Breaking Tides
by Rakusa
Summary: What if Edward wasn't the first Vampire Bella met? I WILL update!
1. Chapter 1

Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

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AN: If you haven't noticed already, I tend to re-title all of my work later on because at the time it sounded good, and later I thought of something much better or just really hated the original name. So for now it's Breaking Tides, I think it's ok, I wish I had something a little better. Oh and my readers for my other subjects, don't worry, I'm working on the stories you want as you read this.

AN2: Inspired by BlondieAKARobin and NoMoreThanUsual, but they wouldn't know it from what I've written. Lol. However, please bare with the first paragraph. It's a little OOC for Bella, but then again the entire story is completely out of context and my own version of the story if it were on crack. But no seriously, it is a serious fic, just a what-if. I had so many ideas running through my head when I read some of their fics, and this is what I came up with, hopefully it's a nice neutral territory for all those thoughts. Heehee... Please read on.

* * *

"Fuck!" Bella had turned around and slammed her shoulder into a very hard structure._ That wasn't there before. _She thought looking at what she had run into and her eyes widened. "Double Fuck!" Bella held up her hands and backed away from the confused looking pale faced male. "Stay back! Please for the love of god, just stay away from me. Please have a conscious and leave me alone!"

"What are you talking about?" He questioned taking a slow step forward, with his own hands raised in a calming notion.

"No!" Bella took a quick step back. "You've in a very public place and just don't _move_, just because I can't see you do it, doesn't mean that you'll get away with killing me."

The man's face scrunched up in confusion and stopped walking toward her, he looked completely confused. "I don't know what you're talking about, I have no intention of hurting you."

"That's what they all say. God, I can't get away from you guys!" Bella saw a door to her left and a crowd gathering around as the classes let out and people were heading to their next destination. She slipped bolted through it and was far away from the building as fast as her legs could take her.

The male still standing in the hallway ran a hand through his hair and a blond female came up to his side and looped her arm through his, looking up into his golden eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Some girl just freaked out when she ran into me just moments ago."

"We have to move again?"

"I don't know, we'll have to ask Edward and Alice what they have to offer." He rubbed his dark curly hair again. "Maybe she just freaked because of my size or memory of someone who'd hurt her before."

"Yeah, Edward will straighten the whole thing out." The girl sounded a little sarcastic.

"Come on Rosalie, he has his usefulness." Rosalie only shook her head in response, and Emmett laughed. "You're right, not very often."

Rosalie broke out into laughter and pulled him down the hall. "Wait 'till he reacts to that one."

* * *

Bella slipped into an empty classroom and tried to get her breathing back to a normal pace, and stop the heaving of her chest.

She took a deep breath through her nose and waited a moment before she let it slowly out of her mouth. _That's it, deep breaths, just like you learned._ She took awhile to collect herself and managed to convince herself that she was just delusional, there couldn't be another one here, that man in the hall was in all in her imagination.

She calmed down enough to open the door and peak out, there was no one out there looking for her, in fact there was no one in the halls at all, again. Besides, if he had wanted to get into the room, there was no way the door would have separated him from her, he would have easily gotten to her if she'd been correct. She must have just mistaken the signs.

She braced herself, this was what happened only ten minutes ago, so she moved quickly to find her class room, and knew she was already late, but as it was her first day of school, it didn't really matter, she'd be forgiven since she was new.

It was third period and she had Spanish. She opened the door cautiously, if the instructor was in the middle of speaking, she didn't want to make a big disruption, but it squeaked anyways and her slow movement caused it to be more drawn out than necessary. She winced at the noise. The whole class turned to her and stared and then chattered started at the new face, they all seemed to know who she was. She frowned, this wasn't good, why did she choose to come here? Did she think she'd be any more protected here than back in Arizona? Here there was only more time to be out in public. She could only hope that her secret wouldn't get out this small community to who she was avoiding.

She couldn't tell her mom the real reason she left, it would only put her in danger. Being unaware kept her safe and she had decided to move someplace even sunnier than Arizona, it was the best thing for her mom and Phil.

The Spanish teacher was still looking at her expectantly. Bella spieled something off in Spanish about how she was sorry she was late. The teacher motioned for her to sit down as she responded. It was all very first year stuff but the class looked impressed.

Bella refrained from rolling her eyes and sat down next to a curly black haired girl with the strands poking out in interesting angles. She placed her bag down on the table and rifled through it for her notebook and pen. The girl leaned over and nudged her on the shoulder. "That was pretty impressive stuff, are you sure your in the right year? I think that's at least third year around here."

"I don't know, I guess I'll have to see how different it is before I can make that decision. I am a little behind because of the transfer."

The girl nodded, though she seemed to care less with every word. "My name's Jessica and you have to be Isabella Swan."

"I actually just go by Bella." She corrected.

"Aren't you from Arizona?" Bella sighed at the question, she couldn't hide her history, she'd come to live with her father, and because of that she wasn't anonymous.

"Yes."

"Shouldn't you be tan?" Jessica looked confused.

Bella couldn't completely stop her eyes from rolling so she tried to hide it by looking down at her notes. "I don't tan so well, I probably fit in better up here than there."

"I get tanner than you do by March." Jessica laughed. "I do know some people you'd fit in with better than the rest of us in paleness."

Bella took it that Jessica didn't mean offense, and nodded along. "Want to point them out?"

"Yeah, but the only problem is that they're very exclusive. They only talk to each other and it's like they're together, it's weird."

Bella didn't quite understand it yet, but she was sure she would if Jessica had the chance to further explain. The Spanish teacher cleared her throat and continued on with the lesson, calling Jessica out to answer a question and in very faulty Spanish responded to the question.

When class ended, Jessica just started chattering incessantly and Bella was appreciative of being with someone but she tuned the girl out. They headed towards lunch where they were met up with several other students. She set her bag down on the ground and it must have spilt open for the blond kid that Jessica was making goggle eyes at, swooped down and picked it all up. "Hey, what's this?" He pulled out a sheet of paper and before Bella could see what he had, he laughed. "Looks like we have a few classes together Isabella!"

"Oh? Any with me?" Eric tried to look around Mike's shoulder to look at the schedule but Mike held it out of reach and they wrestled for it. Bella let them please themselves with boy things. Tyler, who was taller than both of them, which wasn't quite a challenge, snatched it out of Mike's hands.

"Aw, Isabella, you don't have any with me!"

'Isabella' grabbed the paper back. "Well, I'm glad that Isabella's schedule is of such great interest for you guys, but I _Bella_ am the one who has to go attend those classes."

"Oh, sorry." Eric rubbed the back of his neck. "Guess we didn't get the memo."

Bella waved it off. "Don't worry about it, I'm new and I just met you."

"So, do you have plans for the weekend? We're thinking of a trip to Port Angeles." Mike switched subjects.

"We are?" Jessica's eyes lit up. "I didn't think that was a go."

"Yeah, want to catch a movie?" Eric asked warming up to the subject, and Tyler was nodding as well. All three guys were looking at her for an answer.

"Um... sure." Bella agreed reluctantly. The girl on the other side of the table shared a smile with her that Bella appreciated, at least she found the humor in the situation. Bella was used to being invisible for the most part, so to come here and be instantly popular was a little unnerving and it scared her a little as well for reasons she couldn't share with the group. She wished her father lived in another big city somewhere far away from Phoenix, and not this small town, but it's how it happened to work out, and she'd just have to deal with it.

From what she knew, Port Angeles was pretty small as well. It was a pretty safe bet that it too would not be well-known to anyone outside the area. She could only hope that this was now over that she was out of Phoenix and he was more interested in harassing those in the area, he should no longer be interested in her. She escaped, that should be enough.

They started discussing the finer details but Bella tuned out, she was surveying the cafeteria when through the windows she saw a large group of people heading for the doors. She didn't get a clear view of them until they entered the room and when they did, two at a time, she froze in her seat. It was the young man she had run into earlier and at his side was a statuesque blond. They were both pale, paler than _she_ was, which was difficult, as Jessica had kindly pointed out earlier. She knew the signs, even if the others didn't, and being a couple didn't surprise her either, she'd learn a lot about their kind over the last year, having five of them in one room, full of humans, and ignoring them, _did_ surprise her.

From what she knew of their nature, the true nature, was that they shouldn't be hesitating to kill everyone in sight. However, that might spring warning bells throughout the nation and in Italy and then they too would be dead, which is exactly what they didn't want to happen. What took her completely by surprise was that there were _five_ of them, and they were laughing and enjoying each other's company, not attempting to tear each other's throats out. The largest number she'd ever seen together was three, and except for the Volturi, she'd never heard of any large group that didn't have in-fighting.

Someone was saying her name, and it wasn't until a hand dropped on her shoulder, scaring her half to death did she realize that someone was talking to her. "Wha- what?"

"We were wondering what time you'd like to be picked up?"

"Ah, any time would be fine, I don't have any plans at all, I haven't thought that far ahead yet."

"What got you so distracted?" Jessica asked with a smirk, as if she knew something and probably figured it was a boy.

"I was just wondering who those people were that just walking in the door?"

"Oh!" Jessica exclaimed, and leaned forward. "So they did show up to lunch today, often times I think they skip out and go eat better food in town or their parent's cooking somewhere else." She laughed. "Those are the people I told you about. They're like super-rich, their dad is a doctor and they just showed up here about a year ago. They're all adopted, either their adopted mother couldn't have children, or more likely she didn't want to ruin her perfect shape." Jessica supplied.

"I think it's the first." Angela interrupted. "She has a motherly nature, I think she probably could have a sometime and it didn't work out."

"Anyways." Jessica waved off Angela's accurate assumption. "The really weird part is that they're all together, like together together." Bella already knew that, but she needed names so she knew exactly who to avoid. "I think it's illegal."

"But they're not actually related." Angela injected again. "Only Rosalie and Jasper are."

"Yeah, their last names still go by Hale, but they associate to the Cullen name just like the rest of them. Emmett too has a different name, but they're still part of the 'Cullen' clan." Jessica waved at the group. "So the big guy is Emmett, he's super scary. Rosalie is the blond that is totally unreachable and perfect, but she's so stuck up, more so than the rest of them, somehow they're together, I guess it might just be a status thing."

So Emmett was the name of the guy she had run into in the hallway, he seemed so much at ease both then and now, but then knowing he could crush the skulls of everyone in this room with just two fingers might help with that attitude. He leaned back and laughed at something one of his siblings had said and the loud noise carried over to their table. It was a nice laugh as all their voices _had_ to be, but there was something infectious about it as well. It almost seemed genuine and friendly.

She had to shake herself away from these thoughts, its exactly what they all wanted from the humans, to put them at ease before they striked, so no one would be the wiser. She steeled herself against it, anything they said to anyone would just be a lure. She didn't know their particular angle, she had met another with a strange angle, but the others she'd heard about usually only invited people in long enough to subdue them and then strike, so as not to gain attention by others nearby, others wanted the chase and thrill of a fight that was anything but equal, and the latter two examples usually only took minutes before the kill was complete.

Why was she cursed to be surrounded by ones that had such a devastating angle? It was kinder to kill quickly and without deception. If she was going to end up going from any of the ones that she had become in contact with, she'd do everything in her after life to destroy any of their future plans. She'd prefer to be taken down by one she hadn't met that would do it quickly and wouldn't mess with her if her end did come that way.

"The small brunette, is Alice, she's very weird, if she does talk to someone, it's usually a warning or a knowing comment. It's difficult to understand her and she's strange in other ways as well." Nobody had anything to say to contradict her this time, they all seemed in accordance. "The guy next to her, is Jasper, anytime a person goes near him he freaks out and backs away. He and Alice seem like a support group to each other." Jessica rolled her eyes in disgust. "They're both just odd, though Jasper is hot, if they'd break up, I'd be the first one in line to be his next girlfriend."

The smile on Jessica's face was a little disconcerting but Bella was more interested in looking closely at the other two, the ones she hadn't had any sort of contact with. Alice seemed perky, it was odd to see them from a distance and know what they were, she speculated on what they were like as humans, most of the ones she'd learned about hadn't had spectacular upbringing or moral code when they were living, and it translated into their personalities now. Jasper had to be military, she could just see it in his 'relaxed' position, a line of tension and alertness not necessarily associated with their nature. They often didn't care what was going on around them, they were completely invincible.

"The last one, Edward, is single, I think he's just waiting for his parents to adopt him a girlfriend, he ignores everyone else around here. I know I've attempted to catch his eye, and have gotten no-where."

Bella silently laughed at that, and could see the last one as well laugh at the same time. She froze, that was a little strange, and it was hard to be coincidental, he could either overhear their conversation, which was likely, or had some other means on spying on the members around the room. She glanced serpentinely around the room, but she had no idea if there was anything he was using or any other means, his super-hearing and the others must have just picked up on the comment. It was a funny comment too, it was a clear back off if you ever have an interest and a _I'm such an amazing catch and if he doesn't want me, he must be in the closet and not know it_.

Bella turned her attention to actually looking at the details of the last one at the table and her breath caught. It was a shame that they were all so gorgeous, and this one was particularly so, they didn't need it. He turned his gaze to her and she could feel them searching, memorizing and taking in her image. It was too late, she was found again, and was given attention to, again, and she might not live past the day. His face turned confused as he searched and then furrowed in frustration and the eyes narrowed, as if trying to read her own face from so far away, as if by looking hard enough, he could tap into her thoughts. He didn't need it, her face was an open book.

"So, they're like a family?" She asked slowly.

"Yeah, closer than a lot of families I've seen." Angela supplied. "They're very tight-knit, always having each other's backs."

That was an oddity that Bella couldn't quite put her finger on, and she could only hope as she saw the five get up to leave that she would not have any classes with any of them. Alice stopped in the open doorway and tilted her head to the side, two of them males stopped to watch her and paid particular attention. The one that she learned was Edward, frowned deeply, clearly not liking whatever they were talking about and then they all left without a backwards glance into the room.

She took a deep breath of relief to be away from more of them. If they didn't pay any attention to anyone and there was no whispers of disappearances, maybe they hunted elsewhere and left the population of people here alone, it was wise, and a few did so. So that wasn't so surprising to Bella. If that was the case, maybe she'd be left alone too. God she hoped so.

The group disbanded and Mike tagged along her side. "I have class with you, remember?" She had forgotten that and so she walked with Mike to her biology class.

Walking in, Mike disappeared to his assigned seat and without the teacher's repetitive announcement, she could clearly see that the only seat left was the only seat she did not want to take. It was clear the other humans were averse to sitting too close to him without knowing why and yet they all wanted to be part of them. She cursed her luck as she came closer and then it was her turn to be alarmed, he visibly reacted and slid his seat far away, one hand reaching under the table and his whole body tensed and he turned his head away, she knew he wasn't even pretending to breath for the rest of the class any longer, and when he turned his eyes back on her, he glared furiously.

She knew what he was capable of and she stopped moving, he didn't attack outright and she had to move, and with tentative steps came closer to her chair. He pushed it out with his foot and it slid to the aisle. Bella thankful of the small distance, even though she knew it wouldn't do any good if he got it in his head to kill her, it still made her feel infinitely better.

She looked at his eyes and was surprised that everyone in the room was still in an upright position, they were completely black. The only thing that was odd about this scene, besides the whole thing itself, was that he was so intensely furious with her, she'd never suffered so much anger in her direction before, not even by the other one that she'd encountered.

Bella knew not to make any sudden movement that would send her sent in his direction, even if he wasn't breathing it in. So she only took one moment to angle herself in such a way that she could take notes and 'pay attention' to the teacher while always watching him, not that she'd see any movement he made if he didn't do it at a human pace, but it might give her a better chance, however unlikely.

Before the bell rang after class, he pushed away and was out the door, and Bella felt herself begin to melt, that was the most intense fifty minutes she'd ever suffer through. She couldn't move for awhile, and when she finally got back to her feet, she was was shaking. She was glad no one was there to see her, it was bad enough that she was going to be known as the klutz on campus pretty soon, she didn't need to be known as the scaredy-cat as well.

Speaking of her klutz attacks, she ran into the table as she rounded the corner to head out the door. "Ow!" She complained, rubbing her hip from the edge of the table, that was going to leave a bruise. She continued through the rest of her day on tense nerves, she sat at the edge of her seat through of her classes and a nervous tapping of her foot as she waited for the day to end and she could go home.

When class finally ended for the day she had one last stop to make and headed for the office to turn in her attendance form. After she entered it, she caught sight of Edward and pushed herself up against the wall, he hadn't seemed to notice her, and he hoped that would continue to be the case.

He was arguing with the secretary about switching out of Biology and Bella straightened, hoping he'd get his wish, but the secretary argued that there was no other place that they could put him, not even in upper division classes.

"Hey Bella." Eric greeted, he was turning in his articles for paper, and had just come out of the photocopy room.

Edward spun around and took a step back, he must not have smelt her, probably still not breathing properly. He grabbed his papers viciously. "Fine, guess I will just have to endure!" He avoided her completely as he could as he brushed out the door and away from the room.

Bella sighed deeply, she didn't understand what his deal was, and if he was human she should have been offended, and since he wasn't, she should be completely relieved that he was reviled by her. It meant that she might have a chance after all today.

Eric started talking to Bella as they headed out of the building to the parking lot. The lot was practically empty and Bella said goodbye to Eric, and got into her car, as she headed down the long strip of road back to her house, she dreaded the next day. Edward Cullen was going to be in her class for the next semester, he'd eventually kill her in his dislike, and wouldn't even bother to use her death to feed off of her. Maybe it was for the best, at least it would be quick.


	2. Chapter 2

Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

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Chapter 2  


* * *

Bella worried unnecessary for the next day, and for a whole week she managed to relax. The other siblings were there but Edward was no where to be seen. However, now confident in the fact that Edward was gone, she entered the classroom with Mike with absolutely no worries. Things were looking up for her, going to Port Angeles wasn't a problem, they'd watched a movie, had dinner and did a little bit of shopping. The boys hit on her, but she managed to brush them off tactfully and even set Mike up with Jessica and got Eric to ask Angela out. Tyler was more insistent and every time he asked her out, Lauren would glare at her and her attitude got more frosty towards her.

Bella tried to get Tyler interested in Lauren in return, she didn't need any more drama, in her life, and making another girl at the school mad at her, would only make her life a little more irritating. She'd tried talking to Lauren about it, she wasn't interested in Tyler, but she only got the cold shoulder and a brush off.

Mike was talking to her, so her back was slightly turned back to the door, and she smiled at whatever he said and said she'd talk to him later. With Mike it was just easier to be friendly and let his over-friendliness roll off and pretend she didn't understand what he was talking about and she had to halt the scream that wanted to escape her throat when she saw that her table was no longer empty.

In the spot next to her which had been vacant all week now sat the object of her fears. She tripped on her way over and the class snickered, but they were used to it by now. Edward had straightened as she landed on the floor and she helped herself up and pulled the stool as far away from him as she could. He too sat angled away, easier to see each other, but not in touching distance.

Bella turned her head towards the front of the room, she hoped that he would ignore her as she was him. "Hello." Bella's head snapped in his direction and was surprised to hear him talking to her. She had hoped that he would just be the normal bloodsucking vampire he was, and only talk to the one he was mated with. "Careful, you might hurt yourself that way."

"Why would you care?" Bella frowned and turned towards her notes to adjust the spelling of something she hadn't been paying attention to.

"I'm sorry?" He turned his head to take a deep breath and returned his attention to her.

"Just leave me alone." Bella's face scrunched up in distaste and turned away from him.

"My name is Edward, I believe yours is Bella?" He leaned forward to look in her face but kept the distance away from her.

"It is." Bella bit her bottom lip to keep from having an outburst in the classroom as well as her earlier one against Emmett, Edward no doubt had heard about it and was trying to see if she knew their secret. If she did, she was surely a goner, and Emmett couldn't do it himself as she already freaked out because of him and the reaction might have just been because he was a giant.

"Is it just the men or the entire family that you have a problem with?" His tone sounded just a little annoyed.

She glanced at him, feeling the same emotion towards him and not letting this drop. She looked over at him and she saw the confusion that seemed to be a normal expression on the vampire's faces. "You know, I would have to say it's your whole family."

"Look, I'm sorry about the way I acted last time."

"I like to be left alone, thank you."

"What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I just like the simple life., you would change that."

"How did you find out?" He was instantly serious and the intensity was back.

"Find out what?" Bella asked, turning her attention back to him.

"You ever been told that you're a horrible liar?" He asked. "I might not be able to read your mind, but your face is pretty open."

"Whatever. I'm not going to out you, so just leave me alone."

"You sure about that?" Edward demanded, his eyes scanning her face and looking for any indication that she was about to lie.

"It wouldn't matter if I did, you'd be gone, and I'd be dead and you'd have no consequences. It's in my best interest to keep quiet."

Edward didn't say anything for a long time, and the lines of tension in his form never faded, they both looked ahead to listen to the teacher. A long time later he seemed to come to terms with what he wanted to say. "You're wrong, you know."

Bella hesitated before asking, this could end up very badly for her anyways, she might be wrong about them leaving if they killed her, it wasn't exactly a linear pattern. "About what?"

"We wouldn't kill you, we'd just leave."

"Why would you do that and allow me to spread it around even more?" She shouldn't have asked it, because then it wouldn't have suggested that he _should_ kill her and encourage it.

He only moved his head slightly side to side. "Let's just say we're not like that."

Bella's eyes jumped to his to try and understand and was taken aback by their color. "_You_-" She gasped, unable to look away.

"What's wrong?" He searched her eyes and frowned, all he was getting from her was wide eyes.

"Uh..." She lost her train of thought, he was the most gorgeous man and undead man she had ever seen. "Stop trying to dazzle me." She complained, short on breath.

"You first." He countered and together they both tried to pull their eyes away. They succeeded with some effort. "Now tell me what has just caused you some alarm."

Bella took a deep breath before bracing herself to admit something more on what she knew. "Your eyes are gold."

"And?" He asked. "I thought you knew what I was."

"No... they're usually red. Yours were black, meaning you were hungry, meaning you've fed, but how-"

Edward pushed the slides towards her, the teacher just finished explaining their assignment. "Ladies first." Edward leaned away and took a deep breath and turned back to her. "It's difficult to explain, I need to talk to my family first, but all you really need to know is that we don't hunt humans."

Bella's eyes narrowed in response. "Then how do you feed?"

"Animals."

"Oh." Bella looked surprised. "Does that work?"

Edward laughed. "It has been."

Bella looked into the microscope. "Anaphase."

"May I look?" Edward asked but he made no move to touch the microscope. Bella moved it closer to him, aware that he was struggling and she shouldn't trust him at all, that's how things got so complicated in the first place, but he knew she knew, and he had given her the most interesting explanation for something that didn't make any sense in what she knew about vampires.

He took it when it was a safe distance away from her, and looked it for a split second. "Anaphase."

"Like I said." Bella stated with a raised eyebrow. She wanted to know about his reaction to her, the other vampires seemed slightly curious but none had such a reaction to her. It might have been because he was a different type of vampire, but then again Emmett didn't have such a reaction, he merely seemed puzzled.

"Prophase." He stated on the next slide and she reached for it without completely thinking and encountered his cold skin. He pulled back like he was burned, and she wasn't sure if it translated like that, since she was so much warmer than he, if he would feel like he was burning, just like she felt extreme cold. Then again, why would they want human blood so badly if it was painful?

She looked in it and agreed with him aloud, ignoring the strange reactions he always seemed to be exhibiting, it didn't follow with any vampire traits she'd seen or learned about and he definitely wasn't responding like a human did.

"Like I said." Edward repeated her own words and she laughed.

"I guess we both know what we're talking about."

"It seems like it." Edward agreed, with his own crooked smile.

Bella felt her self being moved towards him and she had to physically jerk herself away from him. "God you guys are so good at it!" She grumbled and turned away forcefully. "Just leave me alone. I'm not part of your project or experiment or entertainment!"

"Bella?" He asked concerned. "What are you talking about? I was just making conversation with you, it's so easy with you."

"Because I know? And because you're a vegetarian?" Bella shook her head. "No way, its all the same, you might have a different meal plan but your intentions are the same. You all intend to mess with the humans."

"Where are you getting this from?" He grouched. "We stay away from the other humans, we aren't trying to mess with anyone, we're just living our lives over and over again because we don't want to move as often." He said all of this in a harsh whisper so no one would over hear them.

Bella shook her head. "Just leave me out of this, pretend I'm like everyone else."

"Fine." He snapped, irritated. "That'll be easy, it'd be better for me anyways."

He turned away from her to start the leaving her alone. "Look, I'm sorry, I don't want to make you mad. It's just I've had enough of this, that's why I'm here."

"It's ok, we shouldn't be friends. It's not safe for you."

"Fine." Bella said in a tone similar to his. She looked forward, ignoring him.

"Now it's my turn to be sorry. I don't mean to be rude, it's just- it's hard for me to be around you, but I already tried to leave and I couldn't stay away."

"Your family was here." Bella whispered, understanding.

"Something like that." He shut the conversation down.

Bella rolled her eyes and went back to her notes, he was so bipolar, then again, when it came to him and his family, she wasn't exactly steady in her course either, shit she'd screamed and yelled at Emmett when she first met him and then held a conversation with his brother, even though she knew the dangers associated with it. Then she abruptly removed herself from him and accused him of psyching her out and using all of the humans. He seemed so honest, but she couldn't believe it, they were amazing liars.

The teacher came over when he discovered them working on something other than the assignment and looked at it. "Edward, did you do it all yourself? Didn't think to give Bella a chance?"

"I did at least three of the 5, sir." Bella interrupted.

"Have you done this lab before?"

Bella shook her head. "No, I haven't."

"Done something similar?"

"Yes."

Edward watched the conversation with curiosity but he didn't say anything.

"All right then." The teacher shook his head and walked away but not before plopping the golden onion down on their table.

"You can keep it." Edward said instantly and Bella raised an eyebrow like she didn't already know that, what would he have done with it? He laughed. "Sorry."

Bella shook her head and went back to her doodling, but there was a smile along her lips. She was in so much trouble, and for some reason she didn't seem as appalled by that idea as she should be. She was going to die, one way or another and it didn't bother her like she thought it should. She was so screwed.

* * *

Edward sat there and stared at her as she worked, blocking out the rest of the world. The real reason he was back he couldn't share with her yet, but one thing he did know for sure was that he would not end her life, not if he could help it.

He was intrigued by her, he couldn't read her thoughts and despite clear warning that she didn't want him anywhere near him, she seemed inappropriately _not_ scared of him. Or at least not enough, any other human would be running out screaming and not stick around for a week in a building filled with vampires and definitely not sit next to one and make small talk when he started it.

Mike's thoughts though had turned slightly negative when he saw them talking, but he was slowly putting it aside as classroom discussion as they weren't now. _That Cullen better not think he can move in on _my_ girl!_

Edward rolled his eyes internally, Mike was now 'dating' Jessica, when he still made eyes at Bella and from what he'd been able to garner from passing thoughts during the day, Bella had no interest in any of the males that had hit on her. But she remained friends with them, and talked with them, and did things together. That's why it was so weird to recollect that with her behavior that Emmett remembered when she first saw him, and she had a right to be scared there- and now with him. It only made so much sense that she knew that they were vampires, but none of her reactions made any sense. If she knew it, wouldn't she try to get them to leave?

But he would try to respect her wishes, but she too seemed confused on what she wanted, only time would tell what would happen. He believed her when she said she wasn't going to talk, and she hadn't, even though she knew, and how she knew was suspect, but she did. He'd check with Alice, just to be safe, but he had a feeling that they'd be sticking around Forks for a while yet, which fit in exactly with his family's plans. Crisis was adverted. It just begged the question- if she had met a vampire before, how was she still alive? Maybe she had a different source- or had met another vegetarian vampire, but then she wouldn't have been surprised at the eyes and the color not being red. He smirked at that word, vegetarian, wait until his family heard it in use, they'd enjoy it and probably use it as well from now on. He'd have to talk to Carlisle about a meeting with the wolves, if they still believed it or still had their ability to change and if they've been spreading stories around.

It was Isabella _Swan_ wasn't it? As in Chief Swan's daughter? Edward had heard through the grape vein that he was real close to a lot of the reservation people and by association, so too could Bella. He'd have to watch and look for any signs that anyone else was hearing anything from them.

Class was over, and he had no intention of running out quickly this time around, he still couldn't handle her scent but she intrigued him too much to miss a moment he could observe her. Mike came to stand next to the desk and Bella finished packing up, but didn't look like she was going to try to leave any time either, and Mike interrupted anything they could have said to each other. He was still sending jealous thoughts his way and leaned against the desk.

"I see you won the competition. Wow you must be smart!"

"I guess... I never really thought about it." Bella responded off-handed.

"Ready to go to your next class? I'll walk you."

"I-" Bella stood up and looked back at Edward a little unconcerned but then she changed her mind. "Let's go."

Edward watched them leave the room and watched through Mike's eyes as they walked down the hall. They got to the doors to go outside and Bella stopped just outside of them. "Thanks Mike, but you should head to your class, it's all the way across campus from mine. I don't want you to be late."

"Hey Bella!" Edward jumped to his feet as he heard Alice call out to her, they've never spoken before and he was a little afraid of what she would do to the accord that he'd created with her. If one of the other vampires scared her, she might change her mind.

"Alice!" He growled, and she returned his warning with a mental response. _Relax, her future hasn't changed, it's still two options, death or vampire. Ok, three, growing old, but that's a weak option and it flickers all the time. So quit it, I like her best as a vampire. Don't you dare think of doing that! Fine, I'll leave her alone._

He'd thought about destroying her entire wardrobe. Alice walked away from the duo, letting it be just a random acknowledgment and shout out. Bella was looking at Alice's retreat a little confused and Mike said something to her to bring her back from her irritatingly hidden thoughts. _Earth to Bella!_ He said, and a hand on her arm.

Edward growled and had to hold himself back from ripping Mike's arm off, he calmed himself down quickly when Bella shifted and his hand dropped to his side. He didn't know how it happened, but between wanting her blood so badly it hurt to a simple conversation with her, he felt something towards the mysterious girl, and he didn't know what it was, but part of it was a fierce protectiveness of her. He didn't want anyone to get close enough to her to touch her let alone hurt her.

That only meant that he couldn't go anywhere near her, not only because of his feelings, but because he didn't want to be the person that hurt her.

So he let her walk away and finish her day.

* * *

EAN: Sorry guys, I couldn't resist the EPOV there, hope you got it. I don't know how often it will happen. It's all about how it will play out, no?


	3. Chapter 3

Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

"Hey Bells." Bella looked up to the boy that had just driven up into her driveway. She was sitting in the front yard on a bench reading a book. Her face broke into a grin and dropped the book to go hug the newcomer.

"Jacob!" She threw herself into his arms and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Boy, you've gotten big!" She leaned back to get a good look at him.

"I'm no longer a boy, pipsqueak!" He laughed and spun her around.

"Oh please, you're only a month older than I am!" She tried to punch him the arm but only ended up encountering brick. She tilted her head and looked at him strangely.

"What are you conjuring in that mind of yours?" Jacob tapped her on the forehead.

"I was just trying to figure something out, but it's silly really, I can tell that you're burning up."

"What else did you think I would be doing with such a cute girl in my arms?" He teased and seeing the still slightly concerned look in her face, he sighed. "You know it's not safe just moving here, when you called me to inform me why you were moving back, I told you that you would need better protection than just moving away from the issue."

"Look, Jacob, I appreciate the concern, really, and I never should have told you. I got you involved too deeply and there's really nothing you can do."

"Remember that story I told you when we were five about where my ancestors came from?" Bella nodded, she remembered, she'd had nightmares as a child of big wolves chasing her.

"Well, they're true. I'm one of them, so yes, I can actually protect you from that leech." Jacob was deadly serious and Bella sat there looking at him for a long moment before she slowly nodded.

"Ok, but really Jacob, it's dangerous, you'll still get hurt. You don't understand this situation like I do, you don't get how they operate."

"You might have done a lot of research and have had one on one with that psycho, but trust me when I say that I'm more than capable of handling this." He lifted her chin up with his pointer-finger. "Hey, believe me, we'll both be all right."

"Well, what do you mean you've had experience with them?"

Jacob hesitated. "I don't know if you've noticed the resident vampires-"

"The Cullens?" She questioned, scared that she'd been taken for a fool yet again, she almost believed that he was telling the truth- that she was safe here even with them and that they were vegetarians. "What have they done?"

"Nothing." He sounded pissed by it. "We have this stupid treaty with them and until they break it, we can't touch them. They're supposedly different." He said the last part in quotes. "But there are rogue vampires that come through occasionally, way north of town, the vampires don't have territory up there and we're not only restricted to the Res. It's fragile ground, but they don't know we're chasing the red eyes." Jacob grinned. "So we've got plenty of practice!"

Bella shifted where she stood as she looked at him disbelievingly. "But its dangerous! You could be killed!"

Jacob laughed and pulled her into another bone crushing hug. "Ah relax Bells, it's not dangerous for me, I'm super strong and impenetrable! Don't worry about me, ok?"

"Jake!" She protested from within the confines of his arms. "Lego!"

"Did you say leggos?" He released her and looked around before turning to her and grinned.

"You big goof." She slipped her arm through his. "So, what's the plan for today? Come by to just tease me or you got things to give to Charlie from your dad?"

"Eh, I have a third option. How about I kidnap you and take you down to my favorite hang-out." He suggest.

"Aw, come-on, not your garage? Haven't you tortured me enough with the time I've spent there in our entire life history?"

"Hey, be grateful, if it weren't for me spending time in the garage, then this old thing wouldn't even be running and you'd be given a ride in the cruiser everyday for the rest of your life and have to hitch a ride with someone or call up your pa."

"Ok, then on that note, thank you very much for the truck, I do love it by the way. I'm surprised this is the first time you've been up to see in me the two weeks that I've been here."

"We were having issues with the boys and Cullens. We really don't like to step foot on this neutral territory as emotions flare high and it's really just gross being around each other."

"Ok, I'll buy that, but then again, I'm really close to you, so you don't really have to go through town to get to me."

"Fine, I'm not really supposed to be this honest with you, but, I was up in Canada tracking a vampire that we caught wind of in Olympia."

"What were you doing in Olympia?" Bella questioned, still amazed by their abilities that she could only imagine were the tip of the iceberg.

"Ah, we were getting some grub." Jacob laughed at her expression. "Come on Bells, what do you think? Forks and Port Angeles has enough food to feed us every day of the week? Yeah right, and cows fly."

"You know, I think that saying's when pigs fly." Bella teased him.

"Oh I know, I just think it'd be more impressive if a cow could manage to get its body weight off the ground, and the other saying is totally over-used."

Bella paused for a moment as she looked over Jacob. "I think you've out-grown a cow, I'd be more impressed if they could get you to fly, not to mention your other form, man you must be huge!"

"And growing." He stated proudly, puffing his chest out. "No, since it's nice out, I thought I'd take you to the cliff-diving, the weather is pretty calm."

"Ah, Jake, you know me though, and cliff-diving, well it's an extreme sport for most people, and just walking is pretty extreme for me..."

"Not to worry your pretty little head, we'll be on the beach watching the rest of them. I think it's fun and all but it's gotten a little over-crowded in recent weeks. Perhaps even, I might be able to get you to jump off the shortest one with me. Not to worry, I'll keep you safe!"

Bella's face split out into a grin and she spun away from him towards the house. "I'll just change and we can go, but you're crazy if you think I'm getting into the water. It may be April, but it's still very cold to me!"

"Then what were you doing sitting outside?" He called after her.

She turned and gave him a huge smile. "As you said, it's sunny out, and I was enjoying the actually first decent day since I've been here!"

When she returned she was carrying an extra sweater to put over her lighter-weight one in case along the shore was colder than in land, but she was also wearing a swimsuit underneath her jeans and few layers so if it got hot, she could strip off one at a time and she also had a pair of shorts she could switch into if it really did get warm enough. Jacob was shaking his head at her load. "Come on Bells, you'll change your mind when you see how much fun you could be having. What's a little cold? You'll get used to it in time."

"And if I develop hypothermia, it's on your head!" She brought him to task. "I'm an Arizona girl, in our winters, _I _wear sweaters! I'm not superheated by an internal furnace like you are. I'm actually the normal one here."

"When you're the normal one in our relationship, let me go buy you that cow." He picked her up and swung her into his truck, if possible, it was even larger than hers, but might not have run as well. "I'm working on it, but it's still decent, my newest project is a rabbit." He explained when she commented on getting the newest engine.

"Perhaps we should get bikes and really turn your life around. What am I saying? You would out run any motorized vehicle on the road."

"Not any." He grumbled. "I'm not sure if you noticed the shiny silver car that usually gets driven around town."

"Yeah, here it stands out but back home it would be a poor kid's car." Bella sighed. "Not that I could even afford the parking stall there."

"The motor in that thing though is much more than a normal volvo, it's only because they can't quite curb their indulgences but they don't want to stand out so much either."

_The Cullens_ she wisely informed herself and attempted to steer conversation away from them, she couldn't be thinking of them, or she might just find herself in a trance remembering those golden eyes that seemed to pull her in without even meaning to. He was very dangerous to the center of her being, she knew it, and she couldn't do much about it, he was truly a god-like specimen if it wasn't for the fact that his teeth would either kill her or turn her, not to mention what he could do with one finger.

She had to pull herself out of it even then thinking of how he had disconcerted her with how nice he was, despite looking like he wanted to tear her to pieces. She flicked Jacob in the skull. "How about you try to alleviate my fears on this ocean thing that you've got me going to. Is it really not that dangerous?"

"Hell no, Bells, it's just a fun past time."

* * *

Three hours later...

"I can't believe you!" Bella pushed her soaking hair out of her face. "It's just a fun past time." She echoed mocking Jacob in her 'manly' voice. "I had so much fun, you really shouldn't have tried to scare me like that! Though I did love your face when you thought Quill was trying to drown me! I can't believe you didn't know Embry pulled me away and we were just hiding behind the ridge. I thought for sure I leaked it with that giggle!"

"Haha." Jacob intoned dryly. "Very funny, here I am trying to save your butt from vampires and you thought it was fun to play a practical joke on me where your life might have been danger from one of my own. Such a laugh."

"Oh whatever." Bella pushed him and he didn't budge. "You know, I don't like this, what happened to that sweet little boy I could beat up?"

"You haven't been able to take me on since we were five, so don't even go there."

"If you didn't have super-strength, I could still take you on!"

"OH yeah?" He challenged.

"Yeah!" Bella grinned and he lunged for her. She squealed and backed up a step before finding herself on the ground, looking up at him with sand finding its way in to cling to all of her strands of hair. "Oh great, that'll take forever to wash out." She complained, glancing at the sand that now hung in strands around her face.

Jacob plopped down next to her and nudged her. "You can take all the showers you want at my place. You have salt water in there anyways, so it'd be uncomfortable to go all the way back to yours like that. I'm glad that you've come out and joined us, even happier that you actually stepped foot into the water."

"I'm not the wicked witch of the west you know, I actually do outdoor activities including the beach and pools."

"I'd hate to see you do any sports, or *gasp* hiking!"

"Oh come off it!" Bella threw a pile of wet sand at his chest. "We both know sports and I don't match, but it's not that bad!"

Jacob cleared his throat, clearly disagreeing. "I do recall you falling over just trying to take off your sandal earlier."

"They're complicated footwear."

"The last time I saw you in complicated footwear, it was because you were three and didn't know how to tie your laces."

Bella pouted and leaned against her knees, it was true and she couldn't argue with him, being known as the simplicity queen and klutz queen as one entity meant that she didn't have much to go off of in arguing for herself. She was known as the Simple Klutz in Phoenix from the people who did see her, and weren't her friends, though they weren't much better in private.

"Ah come on, that's what I think is so great about you! You're always good for a laugh and you always know what your talking about and your super friendly when you're not being shy. Which I have to say, _I_ don't see that side of you very often." Jacob splayed a hand against her back. "So, don't break up with me over that!"

Bella rolled her eyes, they'd been playing this game since they were toddlers, saying they were boyfriend and girlfriend, but not in the serious manner, just as a joke, and everyone knew it too. They were the best of friends and often the times she did manage to make it up to Forks, she never hung out with the local kids, she always came down to La Push, so it was no wonder the other kids didn't really know who she was. Charlie didn't care, he was always down here anyways.

"Fine, lead the way, oh great one, I think I want that shower now."

"Good, and I'll make us dinner why you do that. Billy should be back in time to eat." When Bella's nose wrinkled, he had only one word to say. "What?"

"_You_ cook?"

"Hey, I'm not your parents, I am able to get around in the kitchen, and I kind of had to learn when my sisters left for their lives and left me with someone who couldn't reach all the cabinets. It was a rough couple of months, but we got through it, and now I make a mean meal."

"Nice alliteration." Bella teased. "I just have to stay and try this, it's too tempting of an offer to pass up."

"Just no grading." He warned.

"Would I do that?" They both paused and then broke out laughing, because she would, just not always out loud. "All right, all right, I will save the criticism for something else. You going to show me what's in your garage?"

"Yeah sure, after dinner sounds perfect."

---

Bella walked out of the bathroom with a towel in her hands, trying to soak up any remaining water in the follicles. She was glad now that she brought a change of clothing and in that pile was a pair of underwear she had sneaked in in case she didn't want to wear her swimsuit all day.

"Charlie called, he said he wouldn't be able to make dinner." Jacob called to her and she figured he'd heard her footsteps or the shower turning off awhile ago.

"Oh, ok. Hey Billy, how have you been?" She leaned down to give him a hug.

"Just great, better now that I see you are back in town for good. You know your old man couldn't shut up about it, he's so happy you've decided to take him up on the offer to stay with him for awhile." Billy responded to both the hug and question. "I know Jacob's glad you're back too."

"I think he's just more relieved that he's now around to protect me from my big dark shadow, if it comes this far Northwest."

"So he's told you?"

"She saw all the signs, she knows about the cold ones and she's being stalked by one, if I want her to trust me with the information she has on it, I had to share with her how I could protect her in return. Besides, I told her that story _years_ ago, when I didn't know any better." Jacob admitted without an ounce of a shame or guilt, he in fact looked rather pleased with himself. "I like having her on the inside too, it makes it easier to cancel dates and strange behavior."

"You guys still going on with that charade?" Billy seemed tickled by it and Bella could only shrug.

"It's just tradition." She responded, looking over Jacob's shoulder, well, she would have if she could have, instead she had to look around his massive bulk to try to look into the pot he was working on.

"Hey, no peaking!" He objected, angling himself to block her out. Bella laughed and plunked herself down at the table.

"Sorry Jake, old habits die hard, and it's hard to image that anyone I know can actually manage food, they always seem to burn it or dust it or deep-freeze it or something that makes it completely inedible." She explained. "Charlie once tried to make noodles and it turned into a massive lump that needed a jackhammer to break apart."

Billy laughed uproariously. "Yeah, Harry always give him a bag of his special seasoning for fish, but I don't think it does any good. If I could only convince that man to let me buy him a grill, then maybe he could BBQ and survive off of that, every man has to be good at that at least, right?"

Bella's lips turned into a slow smile at the thought of it. "Yeah, I can suppose that to be an accurate assumption. Though I don't know if I want you encouraging his poor eating habits, he's going to give himself heart-failure if he keeps it up."

"Ah, he's way behind Harry and he's still going strong as a horse." Jacob interrupted as he came to the table and dropped the pan with a bang on top of a pot holder he'd set out earlier.

"Wow, I'm impressed you remembered that small step, it is after all, very hot off the stove."

Jacob smiled sheepishly, one hand going behind his head. "Ah, well.... It's one of those live and learn situations. I guess after burning a hole through the table a few times teaches you a few things not to repeat, or would be better off not doing so." Bella tried to lift the placemat up so she could peak at the damage he'd done but his hand came out to stop her. "Better not scare your eyes with that. Enjoy your food."

"Ah man, but I wanted to see your amazing handiwork at play!" She pouted but moved her hand away so she could lean up against the table to see inside the pan. "It actually looks ok."

"I thought there'd be no judging." Jacob playfully warned and she sank back down. "That's better, how much do you want?"

After dinner, she surveyed the progress of his newest project and commented positively on the fact he'd gotten so far in only a couple of weeks tied together with school work and wolf business. He shrugged in response.

"Ah, I'm a few parts short, I don't have the funds for it and I have to go to at least Port Angeles to pick it up and I haven't really had the time."

"But you can drive all the way to Olympia to catch some grub?" She raised an eyebrow.

"That was more recon missions, we knew there was a larger percentage of wayward vampires in larger cities, they don't really like or bother with the middle of nowhere, like here, not as many people to pick off and dump and move along unnoticed. At least in big cities, a body shows up, and it's just another day in the city. Out here, it's a big deal."

Bella had to agree with that. "So, can I call Embry and Quill Werecats? Just to tease them?"

"They'll find out eventually that you know Bells, but I think it's best they don't quite yet, I wasn't really supposed to tell you, but they didn't forbid it, so here you are."

"But I would have found out eventually, there's no way I could have missed all these signs!"

"Yeah, except for protecting you, I really wasn't supposed to have contact with the outside world and especially not hang out with you, but now that you know, I can't really be disciplined nor forbidden. Besides, I am kind of the leader, well, if I wanted to be, but Paul was first, so I let him keep it, it's not like I really want to be in charge anyways."

Bella shook her head. "Wow there was a lot of info in that, it's too bad though, I think you would have made an excellent leader. So I'm kind of an: it's easier to ask forgiveness than approval type of thing?" She wondered.

"Yep." Jacob grinned and snagged Bella into his arms and threw her over his shoulder, she protested and tried to get him to put her back down. "I am a take charge kind of guy as you know, and as such, I'm telling you that there is no way I am driving you home tonight, of course it's not really a matter of me being tired, it's just... it's late and Charlie will think it's a problem for me to drive back to the res tonight, so it's best if you just call him and tell him _your_ spending the night, that way we can stay up playing board games and watching scary movies."

"No, not scary movies!" She exclaimed in mock horror. "No, not spending time with you, no!!!"

Jacob laughed as he carried her back to the main house and dumped her on the couch. "Pick out the game and movie while I get your dad on the line."

"Sir, yes sir!" Bella saluted as he sauntered back into the kitchen to get the phone. She had finished one task when he was beside her and the phone was in front of her face. She shrieked and backpedaled a few steps before realizing it was just Jacob. She had to stop doing that! If they could get next to her in a second, then really, her reaction would do no good. "Please try to make noise or slow it down!" She hissed at Jacob and put the phone to her ear. Her dad was worried about her noise and she tried to laugh it off. "Oh, Jacob just scared me with showing up at my elbow when I was fully engrossed in something else. I think I'm going to spend the night on his couch, he'll drop me off at school tomorrow, or at least the house to pick up my books. Yes, Billy is still awake, you want to talk to him?" She paused a moment to listen to him. "Oh, yeah, I'll do just that. Good night dad." She hung up the phone and thought it was funny that he was never worried about her spending the night in this house, then again she did think of Billy as her uncle. So she shrugged and handed the phone back to Jacob. "He just wanted me to tell Billy that their fishing trip for next Wednesday will have to be pushed back to Thursday."

Jacob returned the phone back to the kitchen and they set out to playing games until four in the morning at which time Bella started drooping off and making mistakes and falling asleep for long moments at a time. "All right, time for bed." He picked her up off the ground and deposited her into the couch-bed that he'd made up all by himself and covered her with a blanket.

"Wow you are growing up." She mumbled as she curled onto her side.

"Sweet dreams Bella." Jacob dropped a kiss onto her temple and padded off for his own room, but kept the door open, just in case. Bella was out in a few moments and Jacob listened to her with a disconcerted soul, because it started out peaceful enough, mumbles of incoherent things, nice things, then she said a name that chilled him, for if it was in her dream, then the dream must have turned bad. "Edward." She'd mumbled then switched again to other things that he couldn't make out. But the name didn't come again and neither did her real worries, at least not out loud to where he could hear them.

Jacob managed to get to sleep an hour or so later and it felt like no time had passed to when he was being prodded awake. "God you sleep like a log."

"Well I probably wouldn't if someone didn't keep me awake half the night with her desire to have fun." He mumbled and turned to his other side, so he wasn't facing her.

"You snore."

"Do not." He complained grumpily.

"Yeah, you do, you sleep with your mouth open to catch flies. Or maybe that's the dream catcher's real purpose, to make sure flies are distracted so they don't enter your mouth."

"You are too perky in the mornings."

"I've had coffee already." Bella jumped onto the bed so she could poke him again. "This hurts you know? But it's the only thing I got to get a response out of you."

"Then let me sleep, I'll be awake on my own shortly."

"I wish I could, but no can do, it's a Monday and classes start in less than an hour and a half." She informed him, directly into his sensitive ear.

Jacob bolted up in bed with a holler and covered it. "Do you mind? Some of us aren't hard of hearing like you are!" He rubbed it to make sure it wasn't burst. "Ow."

"Big baby." She pouted. "_Anyways_, you're my ride, remember?"

"Yeah, I forgot about that, stupid consequences." He pushed off from the bed and motioned to the door. "Shut it on the way out?"

Bella tossed him a look over her shoulder as she did just that. "I can't be late, I already have established a pretty poor record."

"Why, ditching and not inviting me?" He called to her as the door slammed shut.

"As if I would want you around!" She yelled through the door, but really, she didn't need to, supersensitive hearing, again. She heard Jacob's laughter through the door and she knew she'd been made. She patiently waited for him to get dressed and even made him a sandwich for the road.

"Ah, thanks Bells!" He snaked an arm around her waist and tugged her outside while the other hand snagged the sandwich she held out for him. "We're going to be late. Do you think we can skip going to your place?"

"I have all the necessary books that class is using at the school, and I'm sure I have enough notebooks and pens to do with for the day." Bella summarized. "I think I can manage if you just drop me off there."

"Okay-dokay." Jacob reached over and ruffled Bella's hair. She ducked though after an initial disorganizing of her hair.

"Come on, I'm heading to class!" She complained and tried to straighten it out, then a wicked grin crossed her features. She lunged for him and used both hands to mess up his hair, and when she finished, it was just a cloud around his head. "There! Now we're even."

They both laughed and Jacob continued down the path that would lead out of the Reservation and they both tried to get their hair back to a normal style. Jacob only had to pull it back into a pony-tail and Bella became content with the slightly disarrayed but still straight-like hair that she'd managed to achieve. It wasn't long until they pulled up to her school gates, it would have taken her longer, but not only did she not like to go all that fast, but her truck wouldn't go past 55mph without completely destroying the engine. Still, it took longer than a half hour, his truck couldn't much faster than hers, even if he wanted to push it harder.

"Thanks Jake!" Bella pushed open the door, classes with any luck shouldn't have started yet. Jacob reached across and pulled her into another hug.

"Stay safe, hmm? I can only do so much."

Bella returned the hug and laughed him off. "The worst thing that will happen to me here is tripping and ending up with a bruised bone somewhere." He returned the laugh, they both knew that was probably true.

Bella hopped out of the truck and shut the door. She waved goodbye to Jacob as she headed into the building that housed her first class, Jacob stayed to watch her make it inside. He felt a little distrustful, sure there was a treaty, but he'd just delivered her to a school teeming with vampires. Hopefully the other students there would provide a distraction and safety guard for her. He sighed and put the car into gear to leave the school grounds.


	4. Chapter 4

Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

The hallway was deserted when she entered the building holding her first period lit class, from the door to the room, was the entire stretch of corridor and she sighed, she was late, and going to be even later no doubt. She had barely taken a few steps when she wasn't alone anymore, the door closest to her burst open and then slammed shut and she was in a pair of cold arms and hugged against an equally cold chest.

Bella tried to disentangle herself from the embrace but it was no use, she had no strength compared to the one holding her. All she did know however was that it was a female vampire that was holding her so tightly, but she knew it wasn't anywhere near as tight as the being could be holding her. She tried to angle her head to see which one of the two that she'd learned about that first day, and for some reason she wasn't surprised to see a dark head of hair.

"Alice!" A male voice called from behind her and she was released instantly, but the distance was still within touching. As she moved to see the newcomer, her arm brushed Alice's.

Edward stalled to a halt in front of her and his eyes searched Bella's face as if he couldn't believe it, trying to find something wrong. "Are you ok?" He asked, it sounded as if he was breathless, but he only needed breathing to talk and to use one of his senses. Why should he sound that way at all, and towards her?

"Yeah, fine. Why?" Bella looked between the two vampires in confusion. "What's happened? Why do you both look so relieved to find me standing here?"

"You disappeared!" Alice cried before Edward could stop her from admitting too much.

Bella shook her head in her own confusion. "What do you mean I disappeared? Nothing I did today was any different than anything that I don't normally do."

"You-"

"Alice!" Edward warned.

"Oh come _on_, she knows so much about us already, do you really think it's going to matter if we share another secret with her?" Alice grumbled before taking Bella's hands in her own. "You were there one moment, having the typical futures I always see you having and then the next, you were just _gone. _It wasn't like I saw you die or anything, you just disappeared off the face of my visions, I had to believe something happened to you. We were so worried."

Bella tried to remove her hands from Alice and she was allowed, and then crossed them against her stomach. "Why would you be worried? And what do you mean my future was just gone?"

"Everything was, no future, not even the next breath you take in, could I see. I see the future in regards to decisions people make. It was very worrisome that someone could just drop off the face of my views like that." Alice looked at Edward, she wanted to say so much more, but had strict instructions from Edward that she wasn't allowed.

Bella took a moment to reflect on that. _Typical vampire, only concerned about themselves. She only cared that she thought her visions were failing_. She swallowed, she'd never had any involvement with this vampire, she'd only been called to from a distance by her, and the weird thing was, was that Alice seemed like the most approachable of all the vampires, but Bella knew better, the smaller the vampire, sometimes the more dangerous they were. Edward took a cautious step forward.

"We were worried-" He took a strangled breath away from her. "Because as crazy as it is, you're important to all of us."

"Because I know your secret?" She huffed, turning towards him.

"No!" He fought with himself for a moment and came even closer. Bella backed up, she might trust these vampires more, and for a reason wasn't scared of them like she should be, but she would be damned if she let herself be caged between the two of them, not that she could stop it. He stopped and he dropped his head and shook it, looking down, coming to gripes with something. He looked up at her and implored her. "Please Bella, just believe me when I saw that I can't explain it, but you are important and we will worry about you no matter what happens."

"I've seen it, Bella." Alice ignored Edward's warning glare. "We become the best of friends, we're practically sisters in all of my visions. I would never want to hurt you, and I would like to be friends with you, if you'd let me."

Bella snorted. "I knew there was some ploy between you guys, if you honestly think I'll believe this crap? Why can't you just leave me alone and not care what happens to me?"

"What has happened to turn you so far against us?" Alice looked hurt. "Why can't you believe that there can be trust, and that we have no alternative motive?"

Bella sighed and leaned against the wall. "I'm just so tired of all of this. I don't want to be part of any more plans, any more deceptions." Bella's eyes snapped to Edward. "And why the hell are you so freaking weird?"

Edward and Alice just stared at her before they started laughing. "I've heard that before, but from Emmett." Edward shook his head and looked imploringly at Alice. She seemed unsure herself and it only frustrated Edward some more. "Come on, we need to have a chat."

He gestured for her to return back out the doors they just came in through and she hesitated, but knew in the end, there was no way she could fight against them if they really wanted her to do something. She went back out through the doors and Alice was by her side but then she sniffed and frowned deeply. "Ew. Why do you smell horrible?"

Bella shifted some of her hair up to take a whiff, but she didn't smell anything odd, both of these siblings seemed to have an adverse reaction to the smell of her, perhaps it would keep her alive then if she smelt bad to most vampires...? "Alice!" Edward snapped and then caught a whiff himself and his face scrunched up in distaste, it was a different reaction to the one she had witnessed thus far from him. It made her start questioning the validity of her small comfort. "Who were you with?" He demanded fiercely.

"Why does it matter?" She knew about the treaty, and she'd be damned if she would be the one to cause it to break and put Jacob up on a plate for these vampires to have fun killing all of her friends down there and every other human in Forks.

"Where were you?" He tried a different tactic.

"I went swimming."

"Where?"

"Why does it matter?" Bella repeated.

"Alice leave." Edward waved his sister away and she hesitated. "Go on, it'll be fine." She looked inwardly for a moment before she nodded with a smile and dashed off. How they hadn't alerted any of the humans inside was beyond her knowledge. "Look, sit down." He pointed to a log in the trees and Bella sank with a sigh of defeat. She was now throughly out of view.

"If you're going to kill me, just get it over with." She stretched her head back so he had access to her throat. He flew backwards away from her. "What's you deal? I've never seen a vampire so repulsed by an offering of human sacrifice."

"So you do know the term." He mused softly. "I wasn't sure if you knew exactly what we were or were just making guesses." Edward shook his head. "Look. I'm going to be honest with you." He lowered himself to his haunches so he could look her in the eye without her head having to strain backwards to see him. "I'm going to try not to hurt you, my family, as far as I can predict and understand won't hurt you either. The only one that concerns me is Jasper, but that's only because he's the newest to this form of life, and has had a lot of experience with the other. He's controlling it and hasn't slipped since he's joined us, which is a miracle, I know." He shook his head in thought. "I am the other loose connection in this situation. I can't be near you, your blood calls to me like none other, it is physical pain to deny the demon the most sweet reward there could ever be for it, but I am trying. As of right now, I can't say I'm succeeding, but I am holding it at bay. Do you understand why we can't be near each other, can't be friends?"

"Not like I wanted to be friends with you anyways." Bella cut in. "If you haven't noticed, you're a vampire, I'm what you're supposed to eat, and from the way it sounds, I'm worse than heroine for you." Bella rolled her eyes. "I can't see why on Earth any of that would want me to be around you."

"Look!" Edward grumbled. "I already told you, we're not like that."

Bella looked away from him, she did have to admit they were honorable for vampires. She understood the difficulty they were in, and she knew that most vampires didn't chose their fate, and she'd never met any that regretted it. But the way he talked, it almost seemed like he hated this life, the immortality's consequences, and not the choices he's made since. He made it very hard to dislike him, even with his short fuse, which was probably her fault anyways, considering she only made a starving man see the most wonderful feast there could possibly be and he had to deny himself from tasting it. Not to mention her attitude towards him and his family, any human would be pissed at her too, but he understood where she was coming from and he still handled it better than any human would.

"What are you thinking?" He questioned, trying to break into her thoughts.

"That you're admirable despite my dislike for your kind. That maybe you aren't so bad after all."

"You are a very strange human, Bella. You aren't scared of me or my kind properly."

Bella lifted her eyes to his, they were that same warm gold color that she'd seen the first day he'd returned. "I am scared of your kind, but I've come to recognize that if you wanted something, there was nothing I could do to stop you."

He shook his head. "Yes, but your heart doesn't thump like it should."

"It's probably because I'm not scared of _you_, or any of your family really. You've made a lifestyle choice and you've stuck with it. It's probably close to impossible to do, but that determination and willpower is strangely appealing." Bella looked away and a blush rode up her skin at what she'd said and heard a groan and then a tree splintering. "Sorry." She mumbled, she'd forgotten that she was so potent to his senses.

"No, it's getting... easier, I just wasn't prepared for the blush is all. Though I should be, you do it often enough."

"I've blushed before you?" Bella's eyes swung back to his and they both took a moment before any more words were stated.

"No. Thank god, I don't think I could have handled it before today. I guess it's time to share my special talent with you." He laughed at himself. "I can read minds, what someone is thinking, whether it is a conscious thought to themselves about what they need to do or dialogue or just a vague reference and the process the mind is working on, like a math problem. I tune most of them out, some I'm more familiar with, I keep tabs on, in case they need me or are worrisome."

"You can read my mind?" Bella jumped to her feet, shit, if that was the case, she might be in a lot of danger and brought the danger to her father and friends' doorstep.

"No. Yours, strangely is also the only one that I cannot read."

"Oh." Bella sank back to the stump. "Is there something wrong with me?"

Edward laughed. "I can read minds, am a vampire, and whatever else you know about me and my kind and you think there is something wrong with you?"

"Well yeah, first I'm this strange bloodtype that you want more than anyone else you've ever encountered and now you tell me that I'm mentally blocking you from a talent you have no trouble using anywhere else."

"It just means you are a very special human. I'm not sure if it is just me that you affect this way or what exactly."

"But Alice couldn't see me."

Edward's stance tightened and he took a very stiff step forward. "That was not because of you, she's had visions about you, ones I don't agree with, but she has no problem seeing you if she's looking for you." Edward shook his head. "You really know how to pick the crowds you hang out with, don't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bella got to her feet in a fighting stance, he wasn't going to go around and insult her friends.

"Wolves, really, Bella? I thought you had more sense, that's why we were trying to avoid each other so much, even if it didn't do any good on either of our sides. But to hang around with volatile wolves? They're more dangerous than most vampires! At least a vampire has control over themselves once they're no longer newborns, but wolves act on instincts and act quickly. They'll hurt you!"

Bella laughed and Edward's face grew grim. "Jacob would never hurt me, he's been doing this for a few months now and has never had a problem."

"But Jacob's not the only wolf, is he?" Edward demanded, and they both realized they both knew so much more about this strange world than either had realized.

"No." Bella stated a little less dispassionately, she knew about Emily, but it had only happened that once, with Sam and he'd been the first, he'd been confused and scared and temperamental and she'd made him angry. He hadn't meant it, he'd had no control over it and it had never happened again, not with anyone. Though she did know some of the wolves were a little more hot-tempered than Jacob, he had no real reason to be. "But it doesn't change that I'm still safer with them than with you. They don't want to drink my blood."

"What happened Bella, to force you up here? If you know so much about us, then why would you come to some place that is so easy for our kind to move in and out of, all day long?"

Bella turned her head. "It doesn't matter. Don't sound so nice, I see through it."

"If you see through it, then wouldn't you see it's the truth?" He took another step forward.

Bella's eyes, though her head was still turned peaked to look at him. She was an excellent judge of character usually, but last year had rocked her foundation so much that she had to go off of what she knew about them as a species and her own experiences. She knew he wasn't lying, knew he did honestly care for her and didn't _want _to hurt her, but really, she couldn't share. How could she trust a vampire at all? When she knew what they were capable of? He made it so tempting to want to be friends with him, to want to share and admit and confess everything, but what could he do? He would probably offer her up to the other vampires if they wanted her, his loyalty rested with his own kind before humans and himself before his own kind.

She shook her head. "It's best you just forget it."

"I won't forget it, Bella." He said softly and reached out, but didn't touch her. "I will let it drop though, for now." He dropped his hand as he said this to his side. "Forget it, it's best if I stay away anyways. It's just-"

"I'm so interesting because you can't hear my thought. I'm a challenge." She stated dispassionately.

"No, not that, I am intrigued by what goes on in there, but it's only in interest for what you have to say. Everything we've talked about has shown me such a different view and is captivating. I just want to get to know you better. But it's safer for you, as you've pointed out, for me to stay away." He sounded frustrated as if every decision he made was wrong, but the opposite one would be just as bad.

"So I'll see you in Biology?" Bella threw in there as a peace offering. "We can at least work together in there, no hard feelings."

"All right." He gave her a parting smile and watched her walk back down the hill away from the woods. Bella was surprised that things had come to such an accord, her feelings towards these resident vampires had changed so drastically, she almost _liked_ them, and how she was feeling now, it wouldn't be a big step until she could consider them friends. They had heart, and if it were possible, a soul, and the one behind her, was the most conflicted one of them all and had the largest conscious of the ones she had met. She knew there was an elusive two still, ones pretending to be the parents, and she had no doubt in her body that they were just like these five at the school, aware of their surroundings and not intending any harm to the population around them. It only begged the question on how they got together and how all were changed?

She needed to have her head examined, she decided, because to think of any vampire as a friend was a very sure sign that she was loony. Then there would be no point to keep her alive, she'd stop the population of people who didn't know how to protect themselves. But... they seemed almost human in someways, better than humans in other ways, like the petty human emotions weren't there so strongly.


	5. Chapter 5

Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

AN: I know that I've switched the order around a little bit, but I did that on purpose, I felt in this case, Bella deserves to be informed long before they _have_ to tell her, seeing as she already knows. Also, I reread the first chapter and I'm going to have to go in there and make some minor editing, I can't believe how many typos there are! Oops, that's what I get for writing it at 1AM, right? Hehee..

* * *

So for awhile, they were at an impasse, and whenever she decided to go down to see Jacob, Alice wouldn't be able to see Bella, as soon as she set foot on their property and would relay that to Edward instantly, who would in turn glare at her and warn her that she was taking her life in her own hands when she did so.

Bella ignored him, he might be right in some cases and he might actually be looking out for her best interests, but she needed to keep Jacob in the loop and really, she enjoyed her best friend's company. Then when she saw Alice in the halls, she'd be glared at from that front too. Bella had to ignore her as well, though Alice kept wanting to come over and talk her, but was probably being held back by the rest of her family.

They told her so much more than she needed to be told, but she was glad they did, it was a token of trust they'd extended towards her, and she'd already proven her trustworthiness by not outing them, but she also felt odd for knowing such details, but not sharing anything with them. They knew a lot, but nothing about her personally. She'd like to keep it that way, but at times she just wanted to blurt things out to Edward when they talked in Biology.

It was a lot more than just working together, they actually talked about their lives as well. Bella got to know him better and he got to know the 'reason' she'd left Phoenix, he thought it was very gracious of her to do that for her mother and her new husband. Bella felt the slightest bit guilty for lying to him on the real reason for leaving, especially as she felt herself growing closer to him, but in a way, she'd probably be here anyways. If it wasn't for the other vampire, she might have chosen to do the same thing anyways. That part of her life wouldn't have changed, Phil would still be going on the road and her mom would still be torn between if she wanted to stay with Bella or to go with Phil. Bella would have come to live with her dad, just as she said, to let them have a chance to be together and for her to see and live with her dad for a little while before moving onto college.

So he had no reason to suspect her of lying and she enjoyed the rest of their conversations about likes, dislikes, interests, she found it especially entertaining to hear about the different lifetimes that he'd lived through. He glossed over part of a decade but she didn't push it, because she didn't want to be pushed back. She didn't know how they got there, but she enjoyed his company and found out that they'd had a lot in common and a lot of differences.

It was also interesting to see changes occur in him every day, each day it seemed a little less difficult for him to breath, a little less harsh sounding in his voice after breathing her in, he was slowly gravitating towards her during their discussions. He smiled more, and it was such an amazing smile, it was crooked and she'd never seen it towards anyone else, not even his family. She felt special for the first time in her life, and it was a good special.

This 50 minutes of her day could even be chalked up to her favorite part. It took her mind off of the feeling that she was being watched at night, that her nightmares were just as bad as they had been before she left Phoenix and the guilt over not telling Jacob about these strange interludes during the day. He'd vastly disapprove of them, probably get angry too, at the Cullens, and at her, for being so stupid, and not learning from past experiences. She didn't know how she would tackle Jacob on this yet, but it really was nothing. Even if Edward got her laughing and smiling the entire day, lingering memories from their discussions and during class. It couldn't be considered as anything important, it wasn't like she was spending time with them outside of class, wasn't putting herself in anymore danger than the rest of the student population. Even if she was, it was different with Edward, he was so different from the other vampire she'd been in close proximity to. The other one had always just seemed slightly off to her, and talking with Edward made her realize just how off she had felt about him, and how right Edward seemed. He was slowly correcting her self doubt on her ability to read people's intentions.

"What are you thinking about?" Edward was leaning away from her, but only so he could look at her face and watch the emotions flicker through her eyes as her thoughts touched briefly on different subject matters.

Bella laughed a little self-consciously. "Oh, you and your family actually." She covered quickly, which was true, that had been part of the thoughts.

"Oh? What's that? Want to meet the rest of them?" He teased and she shrugged.

"I could, but I was thinking more along the lines that it was weird that you guys are together. How did that happen?"

"Ah.." Class's bell rung and interrupted his answer. He grinned at her. "A topic for the next time."

She scowled, she hated being left in suspense. "Fine. Let me leave you with something that you're hanging on the edge of your seat to hear the answer to."

Edward chuckled and rose to his feet, he swooped up her backpack and held it out for her. "You do that anyways. So no harm done."

"What does that mean?" She asked taking it from him, but being careful not to touch him, he still had that distance policy at all costs, and she understood it was for her wellbeing that he had it. Not that his cold skin was a shock to her at all.

"It's just your thoughts are so much more interesting to me than most, even if I could hear them, it would want me wanting to hear more."

Bella couldn't help but smile at that compliment. "Thank you, Edward, that was very sweet of you to say."

Edward shook his head. "You undervalue yourself, did you know that?" He walked her to her next class, a first for them and left her at the doors to gym. "Say hi to Alice, hmm? Even if she knows I accept it now, she might be afraid of me changing my mind, and really, it all boils down to your decisions, and what makes you comfortable. If you don't go up to her, then she has a right to be scared if she were to break the distance between you. You don't have to, but I know she's dragging her feet every day in self-pity for not being able to be your friend."

"But-"

"I know you don't like us, but maybe if you talk to more than just me, you'll see that we're really what we say we are." Edward suggested hopefully.

"Ok." Bella said goodbye to him and entered the locker room, to be greeted by wide eyes.

"Did Edward Cullen just walk you to class?" Jessica squealed.

"Uh... yeah, but we were talking about something we had started in class." It was true, in a way.

"Oh, ok then. He was probably just asking you about a concept he might have missed during one of his retreats. I swear that family takes so many vacations together, it's sweet in a way, just wish I could join them." Jessica started babbling incoherently again so Bella let her believe whatever she wanted and changed into her gym clothes.

When they got onto the gym floor, Alice was waiting for them near the doors, but not directly in Bella's path. She could walk around Alice if she really wanted to, but Bella made a B-line directly towards her and stopped an arms' reach away from the vampire. A few people stared and whispered at the weird duo and why Bella would ever want to associate with Alice unless it was for the clothes. Bella ignored them and smiled tentatively at Alice, who also held back until that reaction. Alice squealed and would have thrown herself at Bella, but Bella held up her hands to ward her off. "How are you?" She asked instead.

"I can't give you a hug?" Alice pouted.

"It's so public here." Bella hedged, she really didn't want to be pounced on by a vampire, again. She might be growing more comfortable with Edward, but there was still a line that had to be drawn, they were still vampires and even though she wasn't scared of these two vampires, she had the wolves to be aware of and her own painful memories to keep her just slightly more cautious than she wanted to be with them.

"Oh." Alice looked put out for a moment, not really seeing the present and then she brightened. "Ok, I can deal with that, you'll change your attitude about all of this eventually."

"Please don't do that." Bella whispered. "It's a little scary and disconcerting to be told your future."

"My brother would prefer me to tell you that its not written in stone and that it can always be changed, based off of our decisions." Alice grumbled, and Bella understood part of it, but not the real reason that the girl might be annoyed by the words.

"Do you get to sit out on the side-lines?" She asked, looking at Alice's outfit, and only seeing the designer clothing that most people wouldn't recognize as such if they were from here. But Bella had been around some of the richest people in the nation and realized even the most simple thing could have high complexity in design. You were really only paying for fit.

"Yeah, I have a note from Carlisle to get me out of all but the actual class, apparently it needs to be on my transcripts if I want to graduate, the actual activities involved don't need to be disclosed." Alice rolled her eyes. "It'd be a completely unfair, and dangerous advantage if I participated."

Bella nodded then looked over her shoulder when her name was called by one of the other students. She gave them a "1 second" sign and then smiled kindly at Alice. "Well, see you around!" She waved as she ran off to join the rest of the group activities, though she probably should have been given the same permission to sit out, it'd be less dangerous for all involved with her not playing as well. The team she was on gave her a large berth and Mike clung to her side, trying to help out and take care of everything that she missed or got knocked into and then spin vicariously out of the way. Their team did manage to win a game or two.

When class finally ended, and Bella had several more bruises and was sure she could walk as well as she could, she changed and then headed out towards her truck. She had to remember not to let Jacob give her a ride anymore, it had been a long walk home because she hadn't thought ahead to ask one of the kids for a ride. Angela probably wouldn't have minded, Jessica would have held it against her, waiting for her opportunity to get her reward for being 'nice' and the boys, well... that would have just been awkward. She could have called Charlie too, but she didn't want to bother him at work. Besides, she had her cell on her if she got in trouble to get a hold of Jacob, who'd promised to stick around more because he'd rather take down her vampire if it came than go gallivanting off chasing the others.

She reached her truck and glanced around as she unlocked the door, the Cullens were all by the shiny silver Volvo that she had no reason to have ever doubted was theirs across the lot, the rest of the kids were joking around, near respective vehicles. It rained while they were in class, so there were large puddles of water that Bella had made great care to avoid. Tyler backed out his car from down the lot and tore down the parking lot, avoiding students, but then one of his wheels caught a particularly deep puddle and he hydroplaned, loosing all control and Bella stopped breathing as she realized it was heading straight towards her.

She didn't have any time to move, anything she could even try to do, would only result in a different position in which she'd be crushed. Her eyes locked onto Edward Cullen's from across the lot and he looked horrified. The vehicle cut off her view from him and the next thing she knew she was being knocked down onto the hard surface of the pavement. She heard a crunch and saw the van spiraling towards her suddenly stop and saw Edward's hands just above her head, bracing against her truck and his shoulders digging into Tyler's van, his body was shielding her from any fallout from the crash and she breathed a sigh of relief when everything stopped moving.

"Are you all right?" He leaned over her, but still keeping his distance. She could see him trying to work out the dent in the shape of his body from Tyler's side panel and glancing fretfully at her vehicle. He looked over his shoulder at Emmett, silently communicating with him and he reached over and pulled out the two hand dents so it would look like the only impact was in the bed where her truck was hit by the van.

"Go." She whispered. "Before they find you here."

He looked her over, uncertain. "But-"

"I'm fine, it's you who won't be if they see you, you were nowhere near me. Please, go." Edward hesitated only a second longer, reaching out to push a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I will see you shortly." He promised, and vaulted over her truck to return to his siblings' side, just in time for a crowd to gather around and try to find her in the mess.

"Bella!" Voices cried out.

"I'm fine!" She yelled, not moving as there really was nowhere for her to move to. It took only a few more minutes for the paramedics to come and Tyler was in pretty bad shape as they loaded him and the police worked on disentangling their vehicles. Charlie was there before the medical team could and he took her shoulders into his hands. "I'm fine dad." She promised.

"We'll have the doctor announce that, it'll be the only time I'll be able to believe it." Charlie seemed worked up with emotion and Bella only rested a hand over his. She knew she was fine, thanks to a saving demon and she searched for him with her eyes, but all of the Cullens seemed to have disappeared. She sighed, this was going to change everything again, and she really didn't want to find out what it would mean.

* * *

"Looks like you were pretty lucky Bella, not even a scrape on you." The doctor told her.

Bella was looking at her doctor with incredibility but responded how she should have anyways. "Yeah it was the truck that got the most damage, must just be a very good car. How's Tyler?"

The doctor's golden eyes were kind as he smiled reassuringly. "He'll be out of here in a day or two, not too bad of injuries, he might be hurting though for awhile."

Bella nodded, still not able to get over that the reclusive father of the Cullens was a _doctor_, not even just a doctor, but a surgical one that spent all his days elbow deep in human blood. "Sure she hasn't gotten a head injury?" Charlie joked seeing the look of amazement on his daughter's features. "I've never seen her so quiet."

"Nope, all the scans came up fine. Your daughter is in practically perfect health. Lots of healed fractures though, at least nothing new."

Charlie took it as the challenge that Carlisle laid for him and he straightened, from what Bella understood until then, was that Charlie liked the Cullens, had great respect for them. She didn't understand why suddenly they were so at odds. "She's inherited my talent for walking, if you were to see my own x-rays and case history, you'd see even more fractures and breaks."

"I'm looking forward to the day that I grow out of that, like my dad has." Bella shared a grin with her father. "What can I say? I'm an inherent klutz, I just got several bruises from gym today, and an earlier one from falling flat on my face during a different rainstorm."

Carlisle nodded. "I suppose that's true, I just haven't gotten your case history from all your years spent with your mother. It's just a surprise to see so many in someone so young. Forgive me Charlie, for any rudeness, it's the department, when you see someone with multiple injuries over their young years, one has to wonder at the origins."

"No harm done, I would be suspect of any other kid's parents too if I had seen it. We just know our history with the ability to put one foot in front of the other." Bella nodded her agreement, her face a wry expression of wishing it wasn't so, but it was ironically something she shared with her father.

Carlisle chuckled and took down the x-ray. "All right then, you're free to go. I think you have a few well-wishers in the lobby, wanting to see how you're doing."

"I have to call your mother, so go ahead and run along, I'll join you shortly."

"I can't believe you told mom!" Bella grouched, hopping off the examination table and almost fell, Carlisle caught her and Bella straightened up away from him. "Thank you for everything Dr. Cullen." He let her go with a knowing look that they were both aware of what it meant.

Edward was pacing the hallways outside the infirmary and running his hand through his hair, musing it up more than it normally was. He stopped when he became aware of her presence. He turned to look at her a little uncertain as to what she was going to say, but that was good because she was going to blow his mind.

"Why did you stop the van?" Bella demanded. "You should have just let it crush me and then all of your worries would have been over!"

"Did you hit your head?" He barked, coming to stand in front of her, if they both breathed in very deeply, they might have been able to touch. She was surprised at the distance he chose, and was a little off-center by it. His presence did things to her, things that no other vampire could touch, no other being.

"_No_." She drawled. "I got a clean bill of health, why don't you just read that off of your father's thoughts?"

He paused a moment as if doing so, and she wondered if he was taking her advice, instead he was only reorienting himself for a new plan of action. "Are you ok then, really?"

Edward sounded so concerned, that it made her take a mental step backwards, her body refused to move from his. "Yes, but I wouldn't be if you hadn't interfered."

Edward shook his head, struggling with himself to touch her, but was afraid he'd rather strangle her than reassure her. She needed to stop talking that way. "I told you, I don't want you harmed."

"But it would have solved all of your family's worries."

"They're already solved, both Alice and I have assured them that you aren't going to breath a word of this to anyone else, that however you knew was just you, and we didn't have to worry about being outed." Edward exhaled deeply and Bella thought that was a mistake, cause now he had to breath her in, and he did, taking one large long inhale.

She should have felt her self backing off, knowing what was going to come her way now that he'd lapsed in that one small way. But he didn't even spasm, he only locked her in his gaze. Maybe she'd died and not know it, they could be that quick, and her brain just hadn't caught up to it.

All of her worries would have ended then as well, no more vampires, no more worry over Jacob and his pack, no more worrying about getting old and not knowing what to do with her life or concern over the wellbeing of her family. But, she hadn't wanted it to end, and she doesn't still, she wanted to live, she felt like for the first time in her life she had a reason to live for, but it was escaping her what that change was, what she felt was important enough _to live_.

Her eyes searched his and she relaxed. "Thank you, Edward."

"It wasn't like I was about to let you die, you know? Like I've said, you're too important." He reached out a hand and for the second time in a day touched her, this time to tug on her pony-tail.

Bella returned the smile that he had for her and then he was leaving her side. "See you tomorrow at school?" He asked as he headed down the hallway. She nodded her agreement and she was pleased to see the crooked smile cross his features and that she had put it there.

"Ready to go?" Charlie asked, and Bella looked up to her father and smiled her agreement, he hooked an arm around her shoulders. "Well, then, it's time for your surprise. I've picked up some of your favorite food from that restaurant we both like so much here in town."

"You didn't need to do that." Bella argued.

"No, I didn't, but its not every day that my daughter almost gets flattened between two vehicles, I think it's cause for a celebration that you're still alive." Charlie led her out, and from the corner of her eye, Bella looked to see if she could see any of the Cullens still hanging around. She was out of luck.


	6. Chapter 6

Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

* * *

Chapter 6

* * *

The next day was Friday and Edward walked her from each of her classes to the following one. "Jeez, it's not like a car is going to come and hit me inside the buildings." She teased him.

He looked at her as if trying to decide if it _was_ a joke or if it was a warning. He took it as a joke in the end. "Yeah, I know, but that's not why I wanted to walk with you. Can't I walk with you and enjoy your company?"

"I guess..." Bella hesitated. "But the last time we'd talked really, you were still warning me to stay away."

"No, all I meant was that if you were smart you'd stay away. _I_ want to be your friend, it's kind of nice having someone on the outside know my secret."

"Now you're sounding like Jake." Bella cringed as she realized she said the wrong thing for he suddenly tensed. She thought he'd take another step away from her, but he only continued walking, they were walking together yes, they were closer than she'd ever seen him get to her, yes, but there was still a foot's distance between them and it surprised her to realized that it bothered her. It shouldn't and she tried to give herself a thorough chastening for her stupid desires, she really would end up getting herself killed one of these days, she wanted the impossible, and stupid.

He didn't talk again for the rest of the distance to her next classroom. He had taken to removing her bag from her shoulder and carrying it the short distances when after each class she confirmed that he was in fact waiting for her outside her door. She had an idea on how he did it, but wasn't going to ask for that particular answer. Edward handed her back her bag and turned around and left.

Bella sighed, he wouldn't be walking her to the next class, she bet. She _should_ be relieved about that. She really wished she could talk to an objective third party, but the only ones that knew what they were hated them.

She sat through the entire class without retaining much of it and she walked out with Angela. Edward was standing across from the door waiting for them to exit the room. "Hey I'll see you, I see Ben down the way." Angela said to Bella and then hotfooted it to the boy she liked.

Bella shook her head in amusement, she'd thought that Angela liked Eric, apparently she liked boys shorter than her, but they looked cute together. Edward came up to her side and took the bag off her shoulder, all without touching her. "I'm sorry, he's your friend, I'll just have to get used to it."

Bella nibbled on her bottom lip, trying to find the right words. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to say. Part of her wanted to reassure him and part of her knew that what he thought shouldn't matter. But everything was a shouldn't or should to her, and she needed to start living in the here and now and be true to herself and everyone else. He deserved at least that. "Don't worry Edward, I was an idiot for bringing his name up, I know the two of you are rival entities. It was my mistake."

"No, Bella, you don't understand." Edward took a-hold of himself as he said the words. "You are right about the hatred between us, but it's you that is important. You're friends with him, and I hope we're friends, so in the end, we should just keep our opinions to ourselves and not drag you into it."

Bella melted a little more at his kind understanding and tilted her head slightly in acknowledgment. "I shouldn't drag you guys into either of the other's business either. It's not right for me to do so, as a friend."

Edward didn't say much on the topic as he walked along side of her and eventually changed subjects. Bella had to wonder what his thoughts were, and could understand how frustrated he was in suddenly being shut out on her thoughts alone when everyone else was there for the picking. "Do you have plans for the weekend?" He asked offhandedly.

Bella hesitated, she contemplated where this was coming from and if he wanted to spend more time with her outside of school and she'd already decided she couldn't do it. It wasn't fair to Jake, he'd worry unnecessarily about her and it wasn't fair for her to say no, not when she was feeling so torn.

Seeing her uncertainty, Edward cleared his throat. "Just so I don't worry, it's going to be sunny this weekend."

"Ah..." Bella understood explicitly, the Cullens wouldn't be hanging around Forks. "No, not that I know of yet. Things might change during lunch, I think some of the boys wanted to go surfing."

An eyebrow lifted at her statement and she blushed slightly. "Just try not to hurt yourself?"

"I'll try, can't make any promises, it's not like I control my feet so well normally."

Edward laughed and departed her side with just a slight brushing of their hands as he handed back her pack. "I'll see you after class."

She watched him walk down the hallway and watched people part for him, but watched him as he passed, some with worry and others with lust, even some of the boys' face displayed the second. Neither gender were free of slight apprehension. He had to stop doing that, touching her, it made her incoherent even to herself for long moments at a time, and the sound of laughter, it just made her head spin.

Mike was at her elbow before she even headed in. "Eh, Bella, I was wondering, since its only a month away, if- well, if you didn't have plans already-"

Bella turned her thoughts to the boy at her side with curiosity, what was this about? "What Mike?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd go to the prom with me?"

Bella was a second from freaking out, Jessica would kill her if she even heard word of this even breathed near her, she had to nip this in the bud at this moment. "I thought you were going to ask Jessica." She stopped to look at Mike to watch for his reaction.

"Eh, I could, but I was wondering if you had a date. She always has options."

"No Mike, I can't go with you, I already have plans." Shit, if Jessica made her life difficult it'd just cause one massive headache for her. Not that she was worried about actually anything Jessica could do, Lauren was more vindictive and hadn't been able to do anything really to her. But still, she'd rather have no worries and she'd worried about Jessica's feelings, since she liked Mike so much.

"Oh, ok, I'll just ask Jessica then." Mike looked slightly disappointed but seemed to accept it, but then he stopped and turned around to look at her. "It's not with Edward is it? I don't like the way he looks at you."

"Oh, and how is that?" She was more curious than anything else.

"Like he could devour you, that you're only a piece of meat." He answered, and to him, it was honestly how he viewed it, he'd never know how close he was to the truth.

Bella laughed it off, though she was slightly worried, she thought he was getting better, but what if he _wasn't_ and only wanted to find a way to eat her without being blamed for it and breaking the treaty that fit so well with his family's lifestyle? Bella pushed the thoughts to the side, _they_ weren't like that. "You worry too much Mike, it's a good thing we're not together, isn't it?"

He looked mixed up on what she meant and she had planned her words perfectly because he could either take it that it was a good thing that she and Mike weren't together or she and Edward, or she could mean both, it was up to him to take it the way he wanted, and he took it the way she figured he would, the way that meant _he_ still had a chance with her. She wanted to roll her eyes. "Yeah, it just wouldn't work out between the two of you, you're too sweet for any of them."

Bella smiled slightly at the compliment, but she didn't take it to heart. "Thanks Mike, you're pretty nice too." She took her sat next to another person she talked to on occasion, forcing him to go find a seat in the back.

The rest of the day went quickly, at lunch Jessica and Angela conned her into going to Port Angeles with them to pick out dresses for the dance that was still a month away, and promised her there was a lot of good bookstores for her to ditch them for if it got too boring. They both were aware of her aversion to shopping by now. She accepted the terms and they planned it for Saturday during the day.

She saw Edward looking over at their table with something akin to distress crossing his features, she knew that he'd overheard, he'd been listening to her friends more and more, especially if it came to her and she didn't know if she should be flattered or annoyed at his intrusion into her life. Just because she was going to be out of the city was no need for him to worry, he was probably going hunting with his family anyways. Why was he worried anyways? It was better than going with the gang surfing, this way she couldn't fall into any whirlpools or geysers or get lost in the woods. She decided she was to take it as offensive that he was stressing about her taking a day-trip to a city a hundred times smaller than Phoenix, which she never had a problem in.

She sent him back a glare and he looked abashed and looked away. Edward knew he'd been caught and was properly chastened for it. Maybe he'd stop worrying about her now? She doubted it, but at least it was a vague hope, she knew how to take care of herself if she had proper warning.

Edward disappeared out the door with the rest of his family, apparently he wasn't going to walk her to class the rest of the day and in biology he was missing, and during gym Alice was not present either. Seeing the nice weather outside, Bella could understand their disappearance earlier in the day. She was just disappointed she didn't get a goodbye before they left and she could admit it to herself, she was disappointed, she had hoped that she meant more than that.

Saturday came early the next day and Jessica honked her horn to get her attention. Bella shook her head and was out the door only a few seconds later, she had been watching for Jessica's arrival. She didn't say anything as she slid into the backseat and greeted her driver and Angela. They were both excited to get the day started.

Around four, Bella thought she was going to have to tear her hair out to get them to finally let her go. After five stores and trying on every dress in sight, Bella had just about enough. Privately she was glad Lauren couldn't come, it would have just made that day so much worse. "Bella, what do you think about this one?" Jessica asked, twirling around in an obnoxiously bright pink dress and exposed a lot of her chest. Bella hated it, but it was just like the pale blue one she'd tried on earlier. So Bella hedged her comment towards that fact and Jessica sighed dejected. "I'm never going to find the perfect dress."

"There's been a lot of very nice ones." Bella put out there. "Some I think were the only ones left, or are original enough that you don't have to worry about anyone copying you."

Angela nodded, she looked a little droopy from shopping so long, but was willing to push on until Jessica was done. She'd already gotten her dress, but still kept an eye out for a dress that might be better than the one she picked and Bella didn't think it was possible. Angela's was slightly conservative but dressed her body perfectly.

"Look, guys, I think I'm going to head to the bookstore that I saw on the way here. Do you mind if I leave you to it?"

"No, that's fine, just meet up with us at six, we have reservations." Jessica ordered as Bella stood up to stretch out her stiff body from sitting so long. She mumbled something that sounded like an agreement and escaped to the outdoors. The sun was still above the buildings, but just barely as she set out in what she remembered as the direction of the bookstore. She found it just fine and checked out, buying a book that the Forks stores didn't carry and she felt a little like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and then she had to laugh at herself for such a thought, for her name was the same except instead of the French derivative, it was the Italian and she was surrounded by different people, who could be considered beasts. The question was, who was her Gaston if she followed that thought down that road?

She'd have to be gorgeous if that was the case, and she definitely wasn't the prettiest girl in town, someone else would have to fill those shoes, only _her_ name was similar and that's where it would end. Bella was looking for the restaurant now, it was getting closer to six, her watch read a quarter to, and if she was early, all the better, it would give her time to look over the menu as she waited and maybe start in on her book until they arrived. She remembered as she took another wrong turn and got more confused why it was so much easier in Phoenix not to get lost, there were maps and people to ask directions at every intersection and big monuments, the roads were laid out in a grid and was a lot more conducive to easy flow of traffic and understanding where the highlights were, everything guided you in that direction. If you were heading into an area with less people, you knew you were going the wrong way, and especially if you were going against large amount of foot traffic.

Bella turned to look for the most plausible exit and could hear whispers in the silence that descended on the area. Her footsteps had been drowning out the noise earlier. She glanced over her shoulder, trying to be unnoticed in doing so, and saw two men who stopped at her glance and pretended to be interested in something else. She didn't buy it and quickened her pace forward. If they were behind her, she might have some luck getting to the road that had a few cars going by up in front of her. Bella knew to stick to the main roads, she must have been so wrapped up in her thoughts to have gotten off track. She cursed her brain for forgetting the obvious and getting her into this mess. Light still splashed the ground she walked on, but it was dwindling.

Two more men rounded an alley way ahead of her and cut off her escape, thus effectively blocking her in. She glanced behind her this time without even bothering to hide it and discovered those two were a lot closer than they had been, they'd taken her stride and doubled it for speed. She stopped walking and tried to assess her options. Her hand tightened around her purse and if she had to, she would use it as weapon. Her dad had put pepper spray in it, and so she dug around for it and kept it in one hand and the purse in the other. Charlie had taught her self-defense only last summer and she could use that as well, but first, she'd try to escape, she had a lot better chance of that happening in this situation than one with vampires.

She decided the best way out of this was to go down a blind alley, seeing as how they had her cornered the other ways and so she darted towards the closest alley she could see. She heard them curse and chase after her and she slid to a stop before she went head first into a wall that was attached to the building rising up between the other two. _Fuck_. She had to fight her way out of this and she turned to the four men in front of her and braced herself to do just that. The alley was pretty big, if she could get past or knock out one of them, she might have enough room to run to safety before the others could touch her, that is, if she didn't have a klutz attack.

They crowded in on her and she sprayed one in the eyes, before it was ripped out of her hand and sent sprawling away, she'd kneed another and whacked a third in the head with her purse, but they still didn't go down or give her the opportunity to run, in fact it only made them angry.

"Got spirit, don't you?" One's hot breath covered her ear and then she was squeezing her eyes shut as light suddenly blinded her. The men too had to shield their eyes as the car stopped inches away from them. She was free and she could feel the heat from the engine from how close she was, she could even touch the paint if she wanted to. She looked up to see who had just departed the vehicle, though she knew whose it was in an instant once her brain caught up to her.

Bella couldn't have been more relieved to see Edward in her life. "Get in the car." He snapped and she didn't waste a moment to do so.

"Hey!" One of the guys made a grab for her and Edward was in his face slamming him to the ground.

"You don't know who you're messing with!" Another one objected attempting to cover for his 'friend' and intending to fight with Edward and Edward did his vampire thing.

Bella slid into the car, slammed the door shut and locked her side. She could only buckled up, as she watched the scene. Edward curled over and hissed at them, looking like a ferocious tiger, they stopped stunned and then she could see the fear fill their face as they realized they were in very real trouble, they ran and she waited on a hitched breath to see him chase them down and tear their heads off, not even desiring to feed off such cretins.

Instead he stood there for a long moment as the men disappeared into the shadows before he spun around and was in the car beside her before she could even blink. He was whipping the car around and before she found her voice found that they were on the highway, tearing down it at speeds she'd never known a car could go, and the ones they passed looked stationary. There was a tense silence between them, both too worked up to speak, Bella finally broke the silence.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Just- distract me." He choked out. "The vile things they were thinking-"

"How'd you find me? I thought you couldn't read my thoughts?"

Edward laughed self-mockingly. "I can't, but once I knew you were going to be up here, it was easy to find Angela and Jessica. I thought you were safe with them, and the next moment I realized you weren't in their thoughts anymore and weren't with them. It was the most frightful thing in my life to realize you'd just disappeared like that."

"Wait, you were following me?"

"Don't sound so offended, I just saved your life." He sounded pissed.

Bella wanted to glare, but could only confess that he was right and she was glad he did so. "I- thank you."

"It was almost too late." He was still berating himself, for not being able to use his talent efficiently and Bella couldn't stand for it, no matter what he was, he now saved her life twice and she owed him, and if she was being honest, she owed herself too. She could no longer hold him at bay, it was too difficult to do so.

"It wasn't. Don't blame yourself." She was finding it hard to talk as she worried about impact with every car they barely managed to avoid, or at least in her eyes it was, and if he got a ticket-. "Won't cops catch you?"

He laughed and it sounded a little less tense than Edward had been since finding her. "Built in cop detector, remember?" He tapped his temple. "Besides, if a cop wants to try and chase me down, let him be my guest, he'd find it hard to even read the license, much less to catch me."

"Can't you please go slower? It's frightening me." Bella clutched at the seat and her fingers dug into the fabric. It really wasn't safe, even if he was a vampire who could read thoughts, someone might decide to make a lane change without even thinking about it consciously or subconsciously. Edward groaned and slowed down to a more reasonable pace and Bella realized they were heading back towards Forks. "Uh- Jessica and Angela are waiting for me at a restaurant. It'd be a little odd to show up back at my house when they aren't the ones to drop me off."

Edward was silent for a long time and Bella realized that he wasn't even thinking about going back to her place, probably intending to lock her up in a house full of vegetarian vampires in a deed to protect her from all things outside that could harm her. At least there each member was bullet proof, dent proof and able to break every bone in the attacker's body and catch her before she even bumped her knees or cut herself. "Ok, you need nourishment anyways and I don't think Esme would be able to create you anything edible in time." He swung the car around and they were back in Port Angeles in no time and parking in a stall just as the other two girls were coming out. Edward opened the door to greet them as he came around to open her door. "Hello, Bella and I ran into each other on the way here, and I offered her a ride."

Bella was helped out with a hand on her elbow and he shut the door after her. She looked at him as he talked to the other two and saw how at ease he was, completely different than he had been around her and she realized just how desirable her blood was for him. She was impressed all over again by his restraint and it just added more weight in his favor for the loosing battle she was fighting with herself.

"Oh." Jessica sounded surprised at seeing them together. "Well, we just finished eating and were just leaving. You coming with?"

"I will see to it that Bella eats, it is my fault after all that she is late, we got to talking. You two may go home and I will drop her off."

"Well..." Angela hesitated, looking at them to see if it was something Bella really wanted to do. "We could sit with you while you eat..."

"Go ahead, I don't want to make you guys wait any longer." Bella had an ulterior motive for this meal with Edward, not that he'd be eating anything anyways and she wanted to put Angela's fears at ease. She wasn't hungry, but she'd sit through it to get information out of him.

"Ok, we'll see you on Monday then." Jessica spoke for them both and headed to her car, Angela followed reluctantly and Bella winked at her in assurance. Angela smiled knowingly, but wouldn't say anything to anybody and for that Bella was grateful. She had a true friend in that girl.

Bella looked up at the restaurant and had to stifle her giggle at yet again being reminded of the name her mother had ironically picked out for her. "What's so funny?" Edward asked by her side and she noticed that the distance was almost non-existent.

"Oh, just thinking how ironic it is that of all the restaurants there are here, I end up at one called Bella Italia."

"I think it's strangely fitting." Edward disagreed leading the way in with a hand at her back. Bella had to wonder about his close proximity, surely it didn't just disappear over night, the intense desire to feed his addiction.

They were seated in a booth away from everyone else and knew Edward had something to do with it, somehow, but she wasn't able to see it or hear it. Perhaps he had dazzled someone again. Either way it fit her plans perfectly, she was going to tackle the strange relationship they had developed over the previous month or so.

"You want to ask me something." Edward stated once the waitress finally stopped trying to flirt with Edward and had taken his order, which was actually for Bella.

"Can you read it on my face?" She asked with a teasing smile on her lips.

"Yes. I also have to say that you seem very un-fazed for the trauma you have just been through. I can't believe you were trying to fight them off, did running never enter your mind?" He sounded furious about it and Bella took a second to evaluate his response. It seemed he was mad at her for her lack of self-preservation.

"Yes, I did, but I couldn't, but let's talk about that. Why were you following me? Why does it matter what happens to me?"

Edward was again interrupted from answering her right away as the waitress set the drinks down and made sure he had a glimpse at her breasts before she wandered away to take care of other customers. Bella ignored it, as did Edward, honestly, the girl probably couldn't help herself and Edward for his part was unaffected, which only added further weight to her question. "I told you, you're very important."

"Yes, but why is that so?" She pressed, leaning forward to assure him that she wasn't going to drop this.

"You- I-" He sighed to gather his response. "I feel very protective of you. I would hate for anything to happen to you."

"But why did you follow me up here, and at so much risk to yourself? It was so sunny out today it would put Florida to shame."

"I'm not strong enough to stay away from you anymore." He admitted, reaching out a hand and gently tracing the contours of the back of her hand with a single finger. She opened her mouth to push for more but he shook his head. "Not until you tell me how you know so much about my family and my kind." He countered, and he left her hanging because he would not break until she shared some of her secrets and she leaned back against the cushion of the booth, but without breaking contact. He seemed afraid to frighten her with his coldness and she interlaced her fingers with his. He jerked slightly at her action but relaxed into the back of his own seat and left their hands attached. He pushed the second drink towards her and she realized she'd downed hers in a second, not realizing how thirsty she was.

"Do I really have to?" She was attempting to delay the inevitable, she trusted him enough not to draw the other vampire's attention to her, and if she knew him as well as she thought she did now, she knew he'd freak out, but she was safest in Forks, as crazy as that sounded.

"Yes." He held up his other hand for her to wait though and a second later the waitress was back by their side with a plateful of pasta, and placed it before Bella with a clank. Then she turned and left the two alone, probably upset at the clear notion that they were in fact not brother and sister, but something else entirely and had no real chance with him. "Go on."

"You're taking pleasure in this." She accused.

He laughed. "I could be, I get to hold your hand and finally get you to spill your guts about something that has been bothering me for awhile, but I'm not, for anything you have to say means that you know about us and I fear what it is."

"It's true, I did encounter another vampire before moving up here." Edward sat forward, the hold on her hand tightening fractionally as he waited for her to continue, all humor in the situation gone at the words and she wondered at the change, he had to know it was coming.

"I had hoped that you had superior research skills and found out in other means and put it together on your own." He explained, seeing her calculating look.

"Oh, well yes, this vampire is a little different I guess. First off, he hangs around the school as a substitute teacher for rainy days in _Phoenix_, Arizona. He's got to have been changed in his early twenties, because I always thought he looked barely old enough to be a teacher and he's been mistaken for a high schooler. I had a brief run-in with him, end of story."

Edward was shaking his head before Bella even finished. "_Not_ end of story, if you know so much, then he must know that you know, and he wouldn't let you just wander around, scott free. Which begs the question, why are you alive?"

"A question I have been asking myself a lot recently." Bella admitted and she set in for the long haul, knowing he wasn't going to like any of this. So she set into her story.

* * *

EAN: Hehe, I know, I'm evil, you'll have to wait until next time to hear her story. I'm setting the entire thing in flashback, so it'll sound like present day, and no narrative to Edward. Well... not really.


	7. Chapter 7

Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

* * *

Chapter 7

* * *

Bella had been hearing about several disappearances around Phoenix over the last couple of years, so the news of a new person missing was not surprising, it was a big city and people disappeared all of the time. This time the body was found and all blood had been drained out of it before being thrown into the river. It didn't settle right with Bella but she didn't know why and it was all speculation anyways. She had bigger things to worry about, like the fact that it was raining, again, and it was so odd to do so, so often in Phoenix, she felt like she was back in Forks for one of her summer vacations.

She hated the rain, it was just so depressing and since her class had large picture windows she was forced to watch it fall to the ground outside. She could feel herself wanting to sneeze just from seeing it at a distance, never mind being in it.

The door finally opened and it was not her typical teacher, it was a young, male substitute. The girls in class sighed over him as he was definitely the most handsome male to grace the faculty any of them had the misfortune to attend in class. His voice was soothing as he lectured and everyone paid attention, so when he posed a question for the class, all the girls raised their hands to answer, actually knowing the answer for a change.

Bella didn't bother to raise her hand, accepting that it was taken care of, and she preferred not to be singled out anyways, and she wasn't going to fight for the limelight, she's rather not be there anyways. That's why it was so annoying when he picked her to answer the question. She answered quickly and correctly, hoping to be able to go back to her notes, but he followed it up with a second question, asking her why that was. After answering this time, he let her drift back into oblivion, though she did get glares from the other girls and eying looks from some of the boys, wondering who she was, and if it was possible to get her to do their homework. She was relieved from both looks as the instructor started calling on other students, both male and female.

Over the course of the next week though, things started getting weird. He asked her to stay after class and help him on a project, she tried to deny him, she really felt like something was off with him. However he found a way to relieve her of her other classes during the afternoon and she found herself stuck with the teacher every girl in her school would have loved to break all the rules with. She would have gladly given the task away.

Things started out easily enough, she was assigned small tasks and he talked to her. He responded to him in only the need to answer his questions or when he was waiting for her to reply to a specific statement. Over time though, it got easier and she started to actually talk more freely, though she never quite trusted him.

People were still disappearing almost every day and bodies were being found that matched the description of those that had vanished in a day or two afterwards. Bella brought up the current news during one of the days she had to work with him, he was assigning her more difficult tasks and she preferred it to the menial work she had been doing in the beginning of the week. He had stiffened and turned towards her with a deceptively calm smile, she felt that her entire being was freezing at that look. She had encountered his own body temperature on occasion and she had figured it was because he was always cold, and now it felt like he was passing that on to her.

"You are really interested in the answer to what has caused the deaths?"

"It is Phoenix, death comes every day to another person in a city this large." She covered, but she had a feeling that this wasn't over.

The man who was her teacher only smiled wickedly at her response. "You are a difficult one to crack, but perhaps that only means that you need to understand so much sooner than the others."

Bella looked into his eyes, trying to discover what he was talking about with his cryptic message and did not like what she saw. The eyes although far away looked brown, up close was a sick color of the most reddish-purple to exist in the world. Most people wouldn't dare to look into his eyes, and they only grew even more calculating as he noticed her breech in typical human behavior. "I think it is time for me to leave." She finally said, looking away, and knowing that someone was walking over her very soon, future grave.

"I think not. What are you thinking?" He came closer to her and caught her eyes with his. She felt herself growing weak and docile, but she still held strong to her wits even if she couldn't move. "It doesn't matter, does it? You are a very strange girl, Bella Swan, I think you are ready for the next phase, meaning my last one is of no further use to me. You're a challenge, I think I am going to enjoy."

Bella held back the gulp but he let her go for the day. She dreaded walking into class the following day, because she knew something horrible was going to happen, she just didn't know what exactly. She couldn't skip, she had no proof and her mother would think something was wrong and question her on it.

That was the last thing she wanted, was to get her mother involved. If it was illegal, wouldn't she want to get adults involved and get them to do something about it before he did something to _her_? Except, she had a feeling that whatever he would drag her into, it would be dangerous for _anyone_ to know, and she didn't know why she thought this, she just _knew_.

She tried to attend her regular classes, as if she had just had a memory slip on what she was supposed to be doing and it worked, for a class, but her following one caught her and sent her to go back to work with her substitute teacher. To make matters worse, it was _still_ raining and she hated it.

"Mr. Cardozo?" Bella asked reluctantly as she entered the room and he was sitting at his desk, not moving, not even breathing. She worried briefly if he was still alive but he turned to her with a frown.

"You are late."

"I confused myself this morning, I thought I was back to normal classes for some reason."

"You are a horrible liar, but I will let it slip this time." He stood up and walked towards the door, Bella hand to move out of his way when he didn't seem to intend to stop. "Well, come on, we have a field trip."

"_What?_" Bella cried, this was so not appropriate, she would not be dragged off campus by this man, even if he was a 'teacher'.

"It's been sanctioned by the school." He assured her and continued walking and Bella thought she would have a talking with the school officials, they should never have passed that request, it was her, alone with a male teacher figure outside of school grounds!

"Forget that!" She denied and she squeaked when he spun towards her and his hand latched onto her wrist. "Let go of me!"

His Portuguese coloring was chalky under the skin pigment and his hand was making her cold and she could already barely feel her fingers. He ignored her outrage and pulled her down the hallway easily without even an effort to keep her moving and she was finding it difficult to even drag her heels as she practically flew along with him. She called out to the teachers and students as they passed by classrooms but she only got strange looks and sometimes giggles or a wave. She looked forward at the man who was manipulating her footing and saw the walls shift ore settling back into place, but it looked somehow different, and he looked a lot younger, his dark hair turned blond and bleached with streaks, his skin became a different type of tan, one healthy and vibrant, his eyes were blue, like one of the students wandering the halls and he was talking, it sounded like a conversation one would have with a girl they were interested in.

Bella shook her head and the image dissolved. "What was that?" She demanded and he glanced back at her with something akin to surprise.

"Oh yes, very challenging." He seemed more amused than angry. "That, my dear, was an illusion. They can't hear or see you as you want them to, they only see what I present them."

"What are you?" She questioned.

"That will be left for later today, for you to find out." He flashed her a smile and she recoiled from the broad grin, his teeth looked normal enough on the outside, but the image of them scared her.

They walked the whole way down to an abandoned building, well, he walked, Bella had given up fighting him off, but she had no way to keep up with his quick pace, so he carried her inches off the pavement, she felt like her arm was going to be pulled out of its socket if it hadn't been already.

He knocked three times and Bella heard someone scrambling inside, then locks being removed from their placement to release the door so it could be slid open. When it did, the image was forever engraved into Bella's mind, it was a boy, about ten years of age, and he had a look about him that was slowly fading into grease and dirt-stains and premature lines around his eyes and lips. The look though that still remained despite everything else, was only physical remnants of a style that he once carried off to further his reputation as a bad-ass street kid.

The kid would have had a hard life just to get to that point, to strip it all away and leave a frightened child in his place, more than that even, took something worse than a monster. His eyes widened at the sight of her and he backed away shaking his head. "No, no, I've been a good boy, I've done what you wanted, and I haven't touched the chocolate, I swear!" His words ran together, but Bella and Cardozo both understood him.

"Shut up!" Cardozo only smacked him upside the head to move the child out of his way, and the boy went crashing into the wall, it didn't even look like he hit him all that hard, only a light tap. The boy clutched at his skull with a pitiful moan. Bella turned to go to him, but was restricted by the hand still clamped down on her arm. She was going to have a very massive bruise there, and she couldn't feel past her skin's angry beating to tell if she was hurt more than that. She was easily injured anyways, and she wasn't used to rough treatment.

Bella was dragged into another room and the boy after quickly locking up followed. He stayed away from the man, even though by this time, they both knew it would do no good. Bella was shoved into a chair and it slid back a few feet before rocking to a stop and she calmed her quickened breathing. He smiled at her as if knowing her heart had betrayed its rhythm.

"Sir... this isn't the end is it?" The boy asked quietly, bracing himself for any form of retaliation.

"Not yet." Cardozo turned from them. "First we must teach her, shouldn't we? That is after all, my profession, is it not?" The boy remained mute and Cardozo's head spun towards him. "IS IT NOT?"

"It is!" Bella cut in for the boy, trying to protect him, but the boy only cowered in return. "What is the meaning of this? What have you done to the poor child?"

Cardozo laughed and turned back around. "Yes, there is much to teach you." Before Bella knew what was happening, the boy was thrown against the opposite wall, but it didn't look like Cardozo even moved an inch from the spot he was standing in.

Bella jumped to her feet to tend to the boy, but he held up his hand as he struggled to his feet. "Do you want me to find you someone worthy?" The boy asked Cardozo subserviently.

"I think I have found someone worthy, but I am hungry, find me someone that doesn't matter." He shooed the boy out of the room, and the boy glanced one last time back at Bella and in that look was so many different emotions that it made Bella's head spin, and they called _her_ an open book?

"What do you want with me?" Bella demanded once the boy was gone, she really hoped she was wrong about one thing at least.

"You are to take his place in the very near future, it is such a shame that people put up such fronts now a days, it was so much easier when the strong were strong and the weak were weak." He shook his head sorrowfully. "It made breaking the strong, that much more fun. But you... you seem weak, but you are really strong, aren't you? Maybe not physically, but in here." His finger came slowly towards her head and she tried to duck and it made him angry. He gripped her chin and tapped her forehead as he had intended. "Do you know who I am?"

"Cardozo?" Bella asked, unsure of even herself in this matter.

"I suppose, I have been known by many names, Cardozo, Lobo, Diabo, Demonio are the most recent or names my victims have claimed for me, but I prefer my given name: Duarte. But do you _know who_ I am?"

"Some sort of demonic creature?" Bella bit out, he had already told her that he went by that description, and she could believe it.

He laughed in her face. "That is what I am, but who am I?"

"I don't know?" Bella really didn't, she had never met him until the day he substituted.

"You, who sticks her nose in a book, and not any book, but classical literature, who knows so much more than you let on, doesn't know who I am?"

"Why should I? Are you someone famous?"

"I was a little known figure in the Portuguese composition, I was known then as Duarte Lobo, and I traveled with for awhile, someone whose name I have taken in memory, Manuel Cardoso. He was a good companion, we felt the same way about our prey and until he was ripped apart by the Volturi, I hadn't realized that either of us had stepped out of line. It forced me underground, made me not react as I had wanted to, and forced me to feed in such despicable conditions. They would never imagine to look for me here, it's far too sunny, not like Texas though, hurricane season is ripe for breeding grounds there. I would have been found during that coup a couple of decades ago, when they got involved with matters, again, not any of their concern."

Bella didn't understand what he was talking about, but took it all in, hopefully somewhere in there was the answer she needed to protect herself, to keep him from doing anything to her until she could escape. "So... you were into music?" She bit her lip, trying to get him to talk more.

"We were the best, there was a third, but he was too weak to be changed, but it might have fun, to have a trio. I could have created my own Volturi. Do you know how much I hate being here? Talking this filthy language? But Portugal and Brazil were out of the question."

"What, then, is the purpose of all of this?" She asked.

His teeth flashed at her again and she coiled backwards into her seat. "That is precisely the purpose, right there."

"What, to scare people?" She questioned dryly, if that was the sole reason to do this, he'd succeeded, but what would he get out of it afterwards?

"Not to _scare_ people." He let out a frustrated sigh. "I thought you were smarter than the others, clearly, I'm wrong, but we shall see, I've already started us down this path and only if you really annoy me, will I end it here. I have grown bored with the boy, he was too young and I don't have the patience to wait for him to age." He turned his head slightly to the side and heard scuffling. "He's back, already. I wonder if he's found me something better than homeless."

The boy fell into the room, he seemed more subdue than before. "I found a girl, she's about fourteen, she's a runaway, no one will think anything of it, just cause for the course."

Whatever his name was, now or then turned and left without even a word of approval for the kid and disappeared. Bella turned quickly to the boy. "Let's run!" She shot to her feet and reached out for his hand with her own that wasn't injured recently. He flinched away from her. "I'm not going to hurt you!" She promised, but he didn't respond to her. "Why won't you even-"

"Look!" The boy cowered in his own skin. "He's fast, he can catch you easily, and he knows where you are, no matter where you hide!"

"What is he?" Bella questioned softly, coming to kneel in front of him. "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am anymore, it never really did." The boy shook his head. "It won't in a few days for sure."

"But you have become a part of his life-"

"No, just a part of his year." The boy countered. "There have been many before me, and there will be many after you. It's a cycle, and it doesn't end. I was a fool for believing him when he said he knew a great place to catch a score. He was right and after that, he only continued to draw me in, he had mind-fucked me the moment he set eyes on me."

Bella hadn't recalled that experience, she couldn't relate, she'd always felt weirded out by the teacher, and he had a drawing aspect, she supposed, but it was always rooted in a deep sea of unease. The other students though had all fallen for him head over heels though, even the guys had been envious of her status of helper, and the guys in her school didn't lift a single finger to help anyone out. "What does he do to you?"

The boy shook his head. "I don't know, but don't believe the happy images, it only makes life so much worse. If you don't believe it, know the truth and can look past it, the images disappear, no matter what he tries to do to you, it can't work, because they're not real, they're only an illusion, a trick of the light, but something much more substantial."

Bella rested a hand on his shoulder and even though he tensed, he didn't push it off. "Come, I'll protect you, we'll get help."

"I told you, it doesn't work, no one can stop him, not even the police or a tank." The boy put his hand over hers. "I'm sorry, but you're in this too deep now. There's no escape, not even for you."

Bella would see to it that there was, and she opened her mouth to assure him that if she did, she would come back for him, but instead it turned into a gasp as she was yanked away from him with a quick tug to her pony-tail, her hair follicles stood on end in their pain. She crashed into the chair she had left to talk to the boy, and it fell over with a clang, but her own head was still spinning and when she managed to look up to see the man, her entire existence tilted on it's axis.

He had the young girl in a single fist, his face against her throat, but he was tearing into her and blood was splattering everything, the walls, the ceiling, the boy and the man's clothings. It even got onto her. The boy was quickly trying to mop up the carelessly wasted blood as it pooled onto the floor, he kept his eyes firmly away from the sight, but Bella couldn't do that, she was beyond horrified at what she could see and when the man finished with the girl, whose toes barely brushed the ground as she had initially struggled and then spasmed once before falling limp and finally managing to do in death what she couldn't do alive, she was released from his clutches.

He swiped the blood from his face and his eyes locked on Bella, but he refrained from attacking her, though it looked as if he wanted to. His eyes though were the color of crimson, the color of the blood he had just drained the girl of. Bella was reminded of her mother's most recent favorite show, where when the vampires cried, they cried tears of blood. But in that show, a human could be fed upon and left unharmed afterwards.

The boy struggled with dragging the body into a room, but since she wasn't much bigger than he was, it was probably easier for him than the others he no doubt had to expose of earlier. Bella gulped and looked back at the man who had dragged her here. A loathing started to boil in her gut, but she refrained from lashing out at him, it would be so easy for him to end her life, but she swore it wouldn't happen until she found a way to destroy him.

So, she got closer to him, though it shouted at every bone in her body as wrong. Over the course of the next few weeks she was allowed to leave, go home, sleep and then go to school, only to report to him after school. She had her regular classes back as the sun once again shined down upon them. She also got closer to the boy, she found out information from him, like how Duarte kept one around until he found a suitable replacement, and Bella was the boy's replacement.

She cringed every time he brought a human in to feed, he did it to break his prey down, to terrify them into submission. He did not feed off of his subjects, but he refused to go hungry as well, it would ruin his game. Over the weeks she learned exactly what he was, the ins and outs of his kind, he was willing enough to share them with her, he was even amused that she was so curious.

Then one day, it pushed her over the edge. She could not stand his mindless acts of violence on the boy, and the death he wreaked on the innocent people of Phoenix, and she was planning a way of escape, but she was biding her time, choosing the right moment, because she knew as the boy did, escape was impossible, he'd only track them down and beat them into work. What pushed her over the edge though, was Duarte taking the boy and lovingly smooth his hair back and taking his head with it, so he could sink his teeth into the tender flesh and sucked out his blood. He left no mess and the boy, frightened beyond belief, and still knowing what was coming, allowed it, without a single fight.

Bella could not watch and tried to run while he was distracted, he didn't scare her like the boy was of him. She understood what he was, what he could do and hated it. But it was too much to draw someone in, get them to trust him and then demolish all of the guise of safety and beliefs. He was a monster, and not because he fed on the blood of humans, that was horrible in itself, but it was his nature, he was not unique. What truly made him a monster, was that he played with his food, tortured them in a way that violated every part of their being.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, slithering over to her side, and taking her upper arms into his hands, she was shaking so badly that it hurt to jerk against the confines that his hands created. It still made her sick to her stomach to even think about it, much less see him feed on another life.

"Out!" She snapped, he wouldn't kill her now that he'd just gotten rid of his last slave, but he might make it uncomfortable for her.

"Hmm... maybe you'll be my new companion after all. Not one of my subjects have lasted as long as you have, you really are strong, aren't you?" He slid a finger down the side of her face and throat. "It'd be easiest to try now, after I've been fully fed, but I can't make any guarantees."

She'd managed to talk her way out of it, but she didn't remember how she managed it, but in the end, he decided it was best to wait to be sure that she was right for what he wanted, and despite her arguing, he decided to experiment on others to see if he could do it, then destroy them.

He'd taught her everything, except how to destroy him, and that was the only thing she was truly interested to know. All she had gained in knowledge was what he had told her that first day, about how his previous companion was torn apart by the Volturi. She would have gone to them, told them everything, but she knew her fate would have been signed before she could have even gotten through the proper channels. So instead within the week, she had convinced her mother that she wanted to go live with her dad, so Renee could go on the road with Phil, it had been an easy conversation, and she'd gotten her way.

* * *

"So, now I'm here." Bella finished her story.

Edward had shifted so he had both of her hands within his, and he held them so gently. She remarked to herself, yet again, how different he was from the other vampire. "I don't understand a few things." He said slowly, his eyes never leaving her face, as if expecting her to collapse in a heap, from her memories of that occasion, and this one. "What exactly was his power?"

"He wasn't a tracker. He'd told me stories of different types, one was how they found his companion, but he was never tagged mentally, because he wasn't close enough to the vampire that can do so." Bella explained, lacing her fingers in his. He really didn't understand, did he, she was stronger than they were giving her credit for, yes, they were vampires, yes that should scare her, but really, they were kittens compared to what she had encountered. "He could produce images, physical images and sounds, it wasn't in the mind type of thing, though he always commented that he was jealous of Jane's ability to inflict pain that way, he said he would have so much fun with that talent."

"There's another vampire in South America that can create images, different sceneries or settings, in the mind. I had the opportunity to speak to her once, it was very disconcerting, always changing around in that sense as well as being able to hear her thoughts, it at least gave me the advantage of knowing what she was planning next."

Bella nodded and looked away from him to their hands. "There were other things you didn't understand?"

"Why he was doing this, how he could let you go, etc."

"He was just playing with his food, Edward. He was alive a very long time ago, several hundred years, and he was turned as the black death was knocking on everyone else's doorsteps. He and his fellow composers were at a pub and took the wrong alley, he went from writing church music to a vampire. But in between he had started to see that everyone was going to die, die painfully, and he didn't want to be part of it, he'd rather be the barer of pain. So he and Cardoso were successful in their transformations, the third had lost too much blood. They were left to feed on whomever they wished and they did. When a hundred years later, his 'friend' was killed, he set out on a new mission, to find a replacement and to do so, he needed to assure himself that they weren't boring, were strong and someone he could bare to turn. If they didn't meet the qualities, he'd set out for a new prey and once he found someone that interested him, would start to train them, get the old one to train the new one and then eat the old one. I got on a flight in the middle of the day, when the sun was shining brightly overhead and said goodbye to my mother, to come here, where he said enough vampires came through, that it was stupid of him to show his face. He didn't think I would remember it, so he hasn't searched for me here, knowing how adverse I am to the rain that fell even in Phoenix. He probably thinks I'm on the road with my mother and couldn't convince her to let me stay on my own, thus giving me a legitimate alibi."

"He won't eventually find out when your mother comes home?"

"She won't, they've just bought a house down in Florida, she wants me to move in with her there. I haven't decided, what to do, all I do know is that my mom is sending contractors to close up the house and pack everything up and sending it down to Florida. I wouldn't need to ever set foot in Arizona again. I'm free either way." Bella had finally realized it herself and it was like a load was taken off of her shoulders.

"The dog knows about all of this, doesn't he?" Edward stated with sudden realization of his own. "That's why you spend so much time in his company."

"No, I spend time with him because he's my friend. He only knows that I've encountered a leech- sorry his term, not mine, and he is protecting me from any fall out that might come my way."

"You can tell him his services are no longer needed." Edward slid in the booth so he was standing and pulled her gently out. He was easier on her than any human guy had ever been, more aware and softer touch, knowing she was delicate. "I'm going to take care of you from now on." He threw some money down on the table and pulled his jacket around her shoulders and guided her outside.

"Edward-" She tried to argue, he couldn't do that, and Jacob would have a field day.

"No, you're my responsibility now."

"Wait, what?" Bella titled her head up at him with shock clearly written across her features. _Where has this come from_?

They stopped on the curb next to the car and Edward sighed deeply, regretting he'd said anything. "I have great feelings for you, and they're not just hunger pains. I will admit that the first day I saw you, all I could do was convince myself not to attack you until I could corner you alone, but I was so angry with you for breaking apart my perfect world that it worked for awhile, and then when class ended, I had to leave. Once I managed to clear my head of the haze you had put it through, I realized it wasn't your fault and I couldn't touch you, I tried to distance myself first by removing myself from your class, but it failed and I knew I just had to leave Forks all together, because we would be seeing each other, running into each other at the oddest moments and I couldn't risk it."

"Because of your family and your perfect record?" Bella asked, not daring to touch him, he had been the one to make all the moves, because he had to be assured by himself that he could handle it. She trusted that he wouldn't act unless he was positive.

"I don't have a perfect record. There's only two people that come close after the newborn stage and one that does. I am a monster, you have that right about our kind. Actually you have almost everything right, and it makes so much sense now, but I can't allow anything to happen to you." Edward gestured to the car. "I'll explain on the way back to Forks."

"The way you drive, it'll be a very short conversation." Bella glanced at it a little worried. "Are you sure you can handle the close proximity, the shut in scent?"

Edward reached out and slid his fingers through her hair, pushing it back in the most kind gesture. "I am sure. The longer I'm with you, the easier it gets. It's still hard, I will admit it, but, it's easier, each time, fractionally."

"So... by now, you're up to what? A second in my presence before wanting to suck me dry?"

She was teasing him, but the look he gave her clearly told her that it wasn't received that way, and nor should _she _be making those jokes when she knew how deadly it could get, instantly, first hand. Bella sighed and Edward opened the door for her. "An hour, very close proximity." He said just as he shut it on her.


	8. Chapter 8

Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

* * *

Chapter 8

* * *

Bella wanted to pounce on his last statement when he slid into his own seat, but she needed to know the rest of the story about the first day they met and his flight away from Forks and what eventually brought him back to risk the temptation.

"You did." He answered before she could even think of opening her mouth.

"Are you sure you can't read my mind?" She wondered vaguely.

Edward shook his head. "No, but I knew that look, it was one of curiosity, you'd make a very good cat, you know that?" He chuckled at the image brought up into his mind and he nodded with it. _A very cute Ferocious Kitten_, he agreed with the image he had of her getting angry before. Bella pouted at him to continue and he did. It was his turn to tell a story that mattered to their lives. "I was up in Alaska, putting as much mileage as I could between us and yet be around people that understood where I was coming from. Emmett hadn't been helping, once he found out you were my singer, he was instantly thinking of his own. Jasper too had encountered one before he had changed his outlook on life completely. Both of their singers had altered them in a very basic way, they both couldn't deny it, and had capitulated on the moment. Emmett hadn't even known what hit him, he was just walking home with a handful of roses for Rosalie, she would have gotten a kick out of it, he had.

As for Jasper, he hadn't even bothered to deny it, sure he was leaning towards a future that didn't involve all the killing and mayhem and everything, but he hadn't thought too hard yet about what killing humans meant. After his, he had started to wonder if there wasn't a different path. It's hard for him after all of his years fighting in the Texas fights with his makers, he was just being used to calm the newborns after all and his skills as a strategist.

Emmett... was devastated, he had been a typical newborn with his intense desires to feed on humans, and he's already the strongest among us, as a newborn his strength was just enhanced. We couldn't stop him, but eventually he managed to control himself and took to our ways fairly reasonably. He's always been impulsive though and his singer had knocked him a blow in the abdomen. Afterwards he declared that when it came to humans, he wouldn't be so impulsive and would try to have better control. He hasn't had a problem since, thankfully."

"What about Rosalie, and Alice?"

"I don't think Alice even knows if she's fed on human blood. She's always been pretty good at consequences, seeing the future does help impact that in some ways. Rosalie hates humans for the most part, can't stand them for the other part. There's only one thing she begrudges them for and it's what stops her from just killing everyone in sight. I am not allowed to share that, somethings are best to remain private, or at least as private as a mind-reader, psychic and emotive can give."

"Wait, emotive?" Bella tilted her head to the side and her hair started to fall over her shoulder, but she caught it with an apologetic look at him. She knew better, but he made her forget sometimes, even if they were talking about the subject in depth, like they were now. He just kept her at ease, and she knew why this was, and it had nothing to do with his vampire abilities, or maybe a little, maybe it scrambled her thoughts in a way most normal humans didn't have and her body's reaction was also completely different.

"Jasper is Empathic."

"Oh." Bella grew silent for a moment and Edward looked over at her, really it didn't matter if he paid attention to the road or not.

"I really want to hear your thoughts, but I have a feeling you'd rather hear the rest of the story?" At her vigorous nod, he continued. "Well anyways, Rosalie's hands aren't clean of human blood, but she's never drank from them. Esme had her newborn craze but she too settled down and hasn't touched anyone since. Carlisle has never done anything but help humans, he's trained himself to be immune to the scent, only noticing it, if it has something wrong with it. Strangely enough, he's spent time with the Volturi." At her incredulous look, he nodded with a smirk across his lips. "He's tried to convince the trio to give up their ways, but Aro refuses, and gave Carlisle a wager, he'd stop trying to convince Carlisle that his path is ridiculous if he doesn't slip for a thousand years. Carlisle is far older than I can tell, and I have a feeling he's well on his way to that point."

"He really knows the Volturi?" Bella's eyes lit up.

"Carlisle hates harming another being, even his own blood-thirsty kind, that's probably why he got along so well with Aro and his brothers. He will do something if they do something to threaten his family, but not until then, no matter what I might say to the contrary. He only eats animals because it's his only means to survive." Not to mention, getting the Volturi involved would be the exact opposite of what he was trying to do. They'd kill her in an instant.

"Edward." Bella said his name softly and he looked over at her, taking in the eyes that were thoughtful, there was no reproach that Carlisle wouldn't help her, she accepted it and moved on. "What about you? You said your record isn't perfect."

"I was a newborn, and then I came into myself. I lasted for awhile with Carlisle, and then he turned Esme, and once she was stable and I had watched her feed on the humans, it got me even more irritated in my lot in life. I left them for a period of about five years and during that time, I shunned Carlisle's ways. I don't know why I did it, perhaps angry at the world, angry at him for dictating to me how I was supposed to live, even though I knew his reasons probably better than anyone else. I probably know a lot of people better than anyone else. I went out and I fed off of humans, but I fed off of only those like those lowlife's that attacked you tonight. I read their minds, picked out who would do the most damage to the rest of the human population. After awhile I realized that I wasn't god, and that's what I had inadvertently been trying to be, by discriminating in that way, and I'm not sure it was wrong to end their lives, but there are means of justice, and I was only proving to myself that I was worse than they were, pretending to be a vigilante." He looked back onto the road for long moments, thinking back to that time and what he had done. "So you see, I'm a monster just like the one you ran from. You should stay away from me, forget that I had told you to tell off that dog, he's right, I don't deserve to walk the same ground you do."

Bella's hand reached out and covered his on the wheel, she had to be able to feel his hand clenching and straining the structure of the fabric beneath his hand. But she only kept it there and he slowly relaxed. "No, Edward, you are not the same monster, _you_ are not a monster. You have a conscious and have accepted your fate and unlife, you have _chosen_ to live this way. You could have easily kept feeding off the lives of humans and like him, you could have gotten pleasure out of the misery he was causing."

"I still feed like he does, it's just animals instead. How can you be so blaise about what I am?"

"So you feed off of animals now, so do I. It's not like I'm a human version of a vegetarian. I'm not living off of Tofu, and besides, there are plenty of cultures in the world that eat their own, which is probably worse than eating what they _were_."

"How can you trust me so easily?"

"I knew there was something wrong with Duarte, I did, I trusted my gut instinct and it proved me right, so I wasn't as blown away as if I had trusted him and he betrayed me. I knew something was up, I just hadn't realized how horrible it was. My gut tells me it's ok to trust you, that you are different, that your family is too. I won't refuse it now, after it's been so reliable in the past. But I want to hear the rest of your story." She finally removed her hand from his and he snagged it with his before she could put it back into her lap. He held it between them and she didn't fight to remove it from his grasp.

"So I left Forks, I went to Alaska, and there, is another clan like ours, just slightly smaller."

"Aren't vampire bats called a colony?" She interjected with some amusement, of course she knew that they would consider themselves clans, but what she noticed though, was that Edward preferred to call his group, his family, and the other one no doubt would have followed the same suit, but he was trying to make it easier for her to understand clearly.

"I thought you already knew that we don't turn into bats and are immune to holy water and crosses." Edward slanted her a sideways glance and she motioned for him to continue, with a cheeky smile on her face and he returned it before talking again. "So there I took a lot of time to reevalutate my reaction. It all looked differently, before I could see the stars so clearly, could understand myself so easily, and was comfortable with it. After that brief interaction with you though, I felt like I was blinded by you and now I was only left in the dark. It's only when I thought about you, did things lighten up and only when I came back and saw you again, did I see clearly. You were my shooting star. I was drawn back here to you, I knew I had to see you again, your face was firmly etched into my mind. It had nothing to do with your scent, and I felt like I had to face it again, to understand what the rest of this was. I came to realize that I wasn't strong enough to stay away, and I'm not strong enough now either, I feel like I'm getting weaker every day, and the only thing that feels right, is being by your side. I feel strongest then, not to leave you, but to protect you, even- especially if it's from me."

They were pulling in front of her house and Bella slid the belt from across her body. She turned to him and they locked eyes. It was several heart beats later that she finally spoke. "Well... if you're not strong enough to leave me, then don't." He wished he knew what she was thinking just then, how she had come to that conclusion and whether it was something she _truly_ wanted.

Edward knew it was a bad idea, but how could he deny her invitation into something he had been doing anyways? He reached over the distance and traced her jaw with his fingers. "I want to, so badly, and I know it's for the reasons of continuing our conversation, hearing more of your thoughts, being _with_ you, but I fear that a part of me is being sneaky and begging me to do it, so I might let my guard down for the slightest moment and devour you."

Bella turned her head towards his palm and left a kiss there. "The window will be open." His palm burned from where her lips touched it, the heat just settled on those two bowed arches.

"You are courting disaster. You know how dangerous I am, you know how much more dangerous _I_ am to _you_, and yet, you want me in your room tonight?"

Bella laughed at herself and the question. "Edward, as strange as it sounds, I know you won't hurt me. I just know it."

He argued with himself as she opened the door and started to get out. "Ok, but I have to drop the car off first." He kissed the back of her hand in departure and let her close the door and walk into her house.

He backed up, and turned the car around, Charlie was watching the game and couldn't be bothered to glance up to see who dropped Bella off. Edward glanced down at the passenger seat, the smell was still overwhelming, but he took a deep breath in, trying to desensitize his senses some more. There, laying where Bella had sat, was the coat he'd hooked around her as they left the restaurant. He could feel his eyes glaze over as he thought about the smell no doubt infiltrating every pore of the object and he pulled the car to the curve and threw all the windows down and took heaving breaths of the clean air. He _would _not hurt the girl he loved.

* * *

It wasn't until much later, long after her father had gone to bed, did the fruition of suffering in the cold room arrive. She had admitted to herself that she knew her feelings ran a lot deeper than she understood and as he slid in at a somewhat human pace, she realized that her feelings were two-fold, she trusted him, and that lent her a hand towards the over-arching feeling she'd never felt before, and she thought he was attractive, which also lended a hand to that superfeeling. She wasn't quite ready to admit to what that larger feeling was yet, it scared her to think about it in context of anyone, let alone a vampire.

"You came." She greeted when he was fully in her room and he shut the window so it still had a gentle breeze floating in, but it cut out a lot of the chill that wanted to sink into her bones.

"I did." He agreed and pulled the rocking chair up to the bed so they could talk some more in low whispers. Edward aware of her father's state of mind- for the most part- in the other room and also didn't want to keep Bella awake for too long. He'd already kept her up longer than he knew she stayed, and he had to be careful not to give that away as well. She had been angered at his following her, though had admitted that it wasn't so bad if he'd found her in time. "I wasn't sure if I could come." He had to make her aware of the dangers at all turns, because it was a true danger, and maybe she'd eventually wise up and find somewhere else to go to be safe from her vampire menace. He had to talk to Carlisle and Alice about it, Alice to keep her eyes open for any danger in that regard and Carlisle for any information he had on Duarte Lobo and Cardoso and if he could do anything about it in regards to Bella. Carlisle didn't recognize the name, either he was a menace long after he left the Volturi or it wasn't important enough to bother him with it at any time in his long history. Alice couldn't see anything yet to point to a vampire seeking Bella out. What he did learn though had pushed him over the edge of his indecision, and made him come watch over the fragile human that smelt better than the average one, to most vampires, and was a portal sucking him in, in oh so many ways. There were three vampires on the edge of the woods near town, and were not friendly to their cause, but stayed away, aware of the large numbers of his coven and were only passing through, anyways. If they caught hold of her scent, or theirs together, it might mean doom for her anyways. So he kept close, and not only because of the vampire threats, but because he just wanted to see her face again, had to.

"I figured as much. Are you too close? Do you need more air?" She solicited.

"No, it's fine, we have at least an hour." So they talked, and they talked and around three in the morning, she could no longer hide her yawns from breaking across her face. "You should get some sleep." He suggested, standing to leave her in peace. He might be able to come back later and watch her, if he was feeling up to it, but knowing his inability to stay away, he no doubt would.

"You could always stay." She mumbled, her head seeking its way to the pillow. "I could make you room."

"You do know how to tempt a vampire." He teased, pulling the blankets up over her.

"I was hoping to tempt a guy." She didn't think he caught it, but he had, and pretended otherwise, it was wiser for them both not to bring up that side of him, it only opened up a whole new spray of problems.

"I will stay, but in the rocking chair, all right?" Edward asked, pushing aside her hair so he could see her face as she slept, it was something he'd always wanted to do in the past. And he found he enjoyed touching her, even if this and holding her hand was all he could manage right now.

"Ok, as long as I see you in the morning." She was sound asleep only a few minutes later, but it might have had something to do with the tune he was humming to her, and could not get out of his head. It reminded him of her in many ways, the catching melody, the insistence to be remembered in his brain and just the tune of it, itself spoke to him as if it was Bella in the music. It wasn't a piece he'd ever heard, nor anyone else for that matter. She'd hate it if she learned that he too, was a composer of sorts, even if she didn't mind him having an impressive array of music interests.

It was a tense night for Edward. As she breathed out, it would combine with the fresh air he had positioned to blow into his face. Her chest would rise and fall and her throat swallowed occasionally, bringing his attention to the swelling and relaxing of the muscles there. His eyes fastened onto it, and he could feel the venom fill his mouth, desiring to put his lips there instead and to sink his teeth into the flesh and swallow the blood. How she could trust him, when he was always so close to ending her life, and being just as she claimed Duarte was- he tried to settle his desires, and cut off his breathing. It didn't help much, but he didn't expect it to either.

He wouldn't betray her trust, he couldn't, it was painful to even think about hurting her, in any way, and that included her feelings.

He had purposefully arranged things so Jessica and Angela knew he was with her when they headed back to Forks, and her father was in the next room, maybe not knowing that she wasn't alone, but if he were to awake and find his daughter dead, he would not rest until he had the murder caught, thus ensuring again that Edward kept his distance. It wasn't only for them that he did it though, he did it for himself, he couldn't have Bella dead, he'd miss her too much, even with the short time in knowing her, and most of all, he did it for her, she was too precious to take out of this world, too much of an innocent.

Edward forced his eyes to rest on her peaceful face as she dreamed about something happy. There was a smile upon her lips, even asleep and they parted to breath out a word. This was his favorite time during the night, when her thoughts were unguarded and there for him to hear, when he couldn't during the day. "Edward." She shifted slightly onto her side, so she was facing him, just that tiny bit more and in her sleep, she smiled at him. An answering smile spread across his features to know that she thought about him, even in her dreams. Then the smile vanished, she shouldn't be that close to him, shouldn't be desiring him in anyway, he'd warned her, he could loose control, it wasn't an intentional action if he did so, it would be purely accidental, but he still didn't want to be the one who broke her.

If he knew anything about vampires, especially those who hunted humans and used them for games, they never gave up. He'd allow her to believe that she was safe, but really, he would increase his vigilance over her, if she had been a random target, she would not have survived, and if she had managed to thwart the vampire's efforts, they would have moved on to easier prey. This one had purposely picked Bella and was cultivating her, he would be furious to learn that she was out of his grasp. He might not yet know where she was, but he was probably in the process of tracking her down. The only one who could assure her survival and pure escape without being followed was another vampire, and if it had to be anyone, he would be the one to do so happily.

Even if it meant fighting the monster in every breath he took. His greatest fight during this night, he couldn't be sure if it was the monster or the man, both instincts only she brought out. The monster wanted to devour her whole, while the man wanted to touch what he _couldn't_ have. If he had reached out to touch her, he wasn't sure what would have taken over, the monster, using a ploy to get close to her and slip past his guard, or the man, who yearned to be with the woman he loved. Either way, it was dangerous for her. She was more delicate and fragile than the normal human and one wrong move on his part could damage her irreversibly.

So he made himself stay put and he watched her sleep. She slept pretty calmly, and it amazed him that she could allow herself to sleep with him being so near, knowing first-hand what he was and what his kind could do. Then he watched as her face scrunched up and she turned away from him. She groaned and then it started in on a long night of shifting and tossing. He feared that she was remembering one of the deaths she had seen while in Phoenix, or knowing that again she had been put into a position where she had to fight or flight, but this time had been saved by an outside force? Maybe she was finally realizing how smart it was to associate with him at all?

"No, Jake-" She called out suddenly on a moan.

Edward's features clamped down, so he wasn't the only one she dreamed about, it shouldn't surprise him, he'd seen her sleep many times already. She'd spoken either to or about Charlie, and her mom, and even Phil was mentioned on occasion. But he'd never heard her really dream about anyone her own age.

"Edward-" Bella stated again, as if she were looking for him and the man took over for a moment and he leaned forward to take her hand in his and started humming her lullaby, even if she didn't know it yet. She might even be offended at the term, he held back his laugh at her face as he imagined it would be when he told her what he called it. It calmed her down and he thought it was aptly named. She clutched onto his hand and he worried that it would be frost-bitten in the morning if he didn't disentangle himself from her, but she only held on tighter and he feared he would hurt her if he forced the matter. So he scooted the rocking chair up closer to her bed, the breeze didn't reach him so well here, and slowed his breaths to once in every ten minutes, so he could help learn how to control it and give it longer before it got too unbearable.

Edward used his other hand to smooth her hair behind her ear, it had fallen into her face while she'd slept. Then his hand kept petting the hair down the back of her head and back. It comforted both of them.

By morning he had managed to free himself, but it had taken a lot of coaxing and patience on his part, he needed to get out, it was driving him mad, the need. He'd been gone for only a good few minutes, before he'd returned, dressed in the following day's outfit. They had class and he timed it perfectly as Charlie was getting up and had vague thoughts about checking in on Bella. It still made him feel guilty for leaving at all, and not knowing how she slept while he wasn't there to soothe her. The other achievement, at least in his book, was that he managed to sustain being with her longer than he had before, or really thought would ever be possible, and in such close capacity and with contact, feeling her warmth beneath his cold hand.

He slid back into the chair, excited for this part of the day as well, when she would be awake and talk to him and confuse him to utter craziness because he couldn't hear her thoughts and the ones she shared with him were so piece-mealy as her dreams. He enjoyed every moment and every feeling she stirred in him, even the ones of possession, because he _felt_ something again. This moment though was so looked forward to however, because it was a first, he would be able to be there to see her awake and see the reactions she had to first opening her eyes for the new day. AND, he didn't have to worry as much about her waking up, seeing him, and run screaming to her father. He still thought it was a possibility, but it was less of one now, as she had asked him to stay, and be there in the morning. He'd have to see if she remembered that before she was even fully conscious of her surroundings.

Her eyelids moved and she scrunched them shut trying to ward out the sunlight that was splaying against her bed and buried her head into her pillow, before she seemed to recall something in her mind and she slowly turned her head towards him. She blinked her eyes open slowly, and she looked so cute, bleary eyed and trying to grasp her surroundings. She blinked a few times and then a smile slid over her features. "You stayed." She sounded so happy with that knowledge. Her eyes looked over his face before slowly dipping to the rest of him and then the smile fell away. "You left." She accused.

"Only to change, it was only a moment." He soothed, reaching out to push back a strand of hair, and then he laughed and she frowned deeper, clearly wanting to know what was so funny. "Your hair looks like you've been rolling in haystacks."

She groaned and threw a pillow over her head. Edward couldn't stand it and he reached over to move it away when she tossed it off on her own and raked her fingers through her hair. "I need a human moment?" She looked to him, wondering if he would leave while she wasn't in the room. Edward wondered if her trust in him was so fragile and couldn't blame her if it was, especially when he left to go change.

"I'll be here." He smiled back at Bella, reassuring her, and he began to wonder what she wanted him around so much for, anyways? Whatever the real reason, he couldn't help but be torn, angry that she'd put herself in so much danger and ecstatic for more time with her, and knowing she wanted it too.

* * *

EAN: So, I lied, when I said I didn't know how much there would be of and EPOV-like moment in the story, and the part that I didn't lie about was knowing how much, but here you go, I had a whole chapter dedicated to his pov, and I again don't know if it will be repeated again, except I do know that I think it is likely, as there are a few scenes coming up, that would be so... awesome in his view. Lol. How'd you like it?


	9. Chapter 9

Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

* * *

Chapter 9

* * *

AN: I doubt it needed such a gap in chapters such as this, but really, that last one was so long, and it felt nice to have a change, especially because we're going back to Bella's POV, for awhile.

* * *

Bella took her human moment and used the shower and brushing her teeth before getting dressed for the day as a means to reorient herself and to look closely at the feelings developing deep inside of her. She knew it deep down, but she was fighting it in a way that she normally probably wouldn't if it had been Jacob on the receiving end, or even a normal boy at school. The fact that it was _Edward_ and not even that he was a vampire, was what was tripping her up the most. Even if he wasn't insanely rich, or a vampire, she'd feel inadequate with him.

Whatever he was before he'd changed, kept with him in this lifetime and she knew that she could never compare to what he'd have back then, if he had remained human or if he was of this time and had his pick of girls. He had his pick of girls, why would he even bother to look at her twice? Even after everything he said, she wondered if it was because she knew his secret and he was just ensuring he would be the first to know if she ever broke it? No, she trusted him, she'd told him as much only last night. So she could no longer think that way about him, whatever his reasons for spending time with her, wasn't because he was monitoring her likelihood of betraying his family.

Bella took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. Three things she was sure about, 1, that Edward was a vampire, 2, that he wanted to eat her like no other vampire wanted to, or would, and she had no idea how strong of a hold that had on him, in the end, neither did he, until he lost to it, and she knew he wouldn't, somehow, she just knew it. The third thing scared her the most, more than the previous two, 3, she was irrevocably in love with Edward Cullen. It was something that would never go away, or lessen, in fact she knew it would only strengthen with the more time spent with him.

She steeled herself to go face him again, she couldn't wait to see him, but with the new knowledge that she'd acknowledged, she wondered if her actions would be any different. She slid out, fully dressed for the day and he was still sitting in the rocking chair where she had last left him, unmoving, and it didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. He turned his head when she walked in and both smiled simultaneously, only causing their grins to widen at the idea of being on the same wavelength.

Edward rose and greeted her halfway into her room. "I think its... Breakfast time."

Bella knew it was the perfect moment to get back at him for leaving her in the middle of the night when he said he'd stay and then for teasing her in the morning about her hair and lack of creativity in dreaming his presence during the night. Her eyes widened on her command and she slid her hands up to her throat, taking a step back with a gasp and Edward stiffened and looked utterly disgusted by the action, and Bella instantly felt bad, but she felt it best to try and diffuse the situation, and not try to apologize. Her face broke into a grin and she sang towards him. "Just kidding! And you said I couldn't act."

"That wasn't funny." He grouched, stalking forward and resting a hand on her throat, now bare of her own. "I thought for a moment you were very terrified of me, and it was completely out of place from the rest of your actions up till now."

Bella's face fell and she looked up at him, seeking for his forgiveness, it had been funnier in her head, but then again he was very serious at the oddest moments. "It was funny, and you know it."

"Funny's not a term I would associate with that expression, ever, it scared me more than anything else." His hand was still on her throat and he slid it so it was in her hair, they both tensed for a moment, this was new ground, even if he had touched her hair before, to drench his hand in it, was a very large step forward. "Shall I rephrase?" He asked instead of acknowledging the situation at hand. "Breakfast time for the human."

Her lips quirked up. "You know, I'm very capable of taking care of myself, these basic human needs are something I've been taking care of for a very long time now. You don't need to create hours of the day in which I need to be fed, etc." Her eyes were teasing him and he responded to it with a playful tug on a strand his hand was near.

"But I'd like to take care of you. Besides, if I don't watch it, then my siblings will whittle you away to nothing because they're so excited to have a new member and don't realize that you need substance other than the kind they like, and sleep and other human functions."

Bella hesitated on that statement, besides Alice and in effect, Dr. Cullen, she hadn't met any of his other family members, really, besides the moment of fear that shot through her during her encounter with Emmett, and it didn't really call forth their liking of her in return because of her actions.

Edward unfortunately took it a different way. "Don't worry, you don't have to interact with them, I'll keep them at bay, it can be just you and I, if you like." Bella opened her mouth to counter that, but she was taken back by how upset he seemed to keep her from his family. He talked over her before she could protest, that it wasn't why she was worried- "Come on, your father's already left for the day."

He pulled her down the steps and started talking about something else, and Bella was positioned into a chair as Edward started opening up pantries. Bella's eyes twinkled mischievously as she waited for him to realize he had no idea what to make her. Then she stood up and walked over next to him, keeping a breath's distance between them as she looked up into his face. "So? What's for breakfast?" She asked slyly.

"Uh... to be honest, I have no idea what humans eat in the morning." He looked crestfallen and Bella rested a hand on his arm.

"Don't worry, as I said, I have this down pat." She winked at him and then turned to retrieve a bowl and a box of cereal.

She set the rocking liquid-solid concoction on the table and grabbed a spoon and started in on the food. Edward sat across from her in her father's chair and watched, fascinated, as she put it in her mouth. He looked a little disgusted too, as he looked at the food itself, and Bella froze, with the spoon still in her mouth.

"What?" She asked around it and he looked away, realizing that she felt a little self-conscious with him watching the way he was. She took it out of her mouth set it on the table. "Seriously? This grosses you out? You see all the students eating everyday, and you can't stand the sight of food?"

"It's not like the way I eat, will gross you out?" Edward returned dryly.

"I wouldn't know, I've never seen you take down an animal, but then again, I have seen worse." Bella countered.

"All right, all right." He laughed. "You've won the point, I concede." Bella went back to finishing her meal and he cleared it away when she was done. He put it in the dishwasher and turned back to her. "Ready to go to school?" He asked, holding out a hand to help her stand. She took it and he pulled her up, their fronts almost touching each other.

"I guess." He laughed at her down-turn face, he didn't really want to go either, but she had to make an appearance. Otherwise people would start to wonder, and she didn't want him to be cast in a bad light, when really he's done nothing wrong. Bella reluctantly turned away from him to go to the front to get her coat, keys and shoes, when he halted her with a hand on her elbow.

"Wait, let me go get the Volvo."

"The truck's fine- won't your siblings be driving the Volvo anyways?" She laughed at the look on Edward's face, it twisted in dislike. "Oh come on, I'll drive." She took his hand and led him towards the front. She slipped her feet into the rain boots near the door and grabbed the keys off of the side table and reached to pull her coat down from the hook and came in contact with air. She laughed embarrassed, she had forgotten that her car was still in Jessica's car, and it would be sitting waiting for her, with Jessica at school today. "Actually- maybe you better just meet me there?"

Edward snorted and pulled her towards him with both hands on her shoulders. "As if I would leave you for that long." Bella sighed and turned to go outside in the cold, but he disappeared and reappeared a breath later, without her even knowing he was gone. The only indication was the coat held in his hands. "I figured you would need this." He helped her into it and snagged the keys from her. "I'll drive."

Bella winced. "It can't go over 55." She warned, without her car- it'd just be very annoying.

"Not to worry, I can bare with it, with the drive to school." He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her outside into the rain, closing and locking the door behind him. There wasn't much of a downfall so, she didn't try to duck away from it like she normally would. Edward opened up her door and went to the driver's side and on the way she heard a groan of metal and she tried to look but he was opening the door to the driver's seat.

"What was that?" She asked, slightly amused, slightly concerned.

"Oh, I just fixed the dent." Edward smirked at her and she laughed in response.

"Thanks." Bella couldn't believe how thoughtful he was being, and doing things that didn't really matter, like the dent in her car, it was just a visual thing. Edward drove them to the school, keeping the car just under 55mph, though she knew it was frustrating him. Probably not as much as the silence sitting next to him, she bet. He was out of the car and at her door before she could finish taking the seatbelt off and opened it for her. "You know, people will wonder how you did that."

"Nobody's in the parking lot."

"Really?" She looked around, and sure enough, the only people in the lot were walking away from it and not paying attention to them. "Are we late?" She jumped down from the truck and turned towards the classroom she was supposed to be in.

"No..." Edward caught her and spun her around back towards him. "We're actually probably a few moments early." He held her still. "I have a question... would you mind if I switch my schedule to fit yours?"

She looked up at him, with her head tilted as she thought about what he put forth, and then she smiled. "No, that's fine. I'm betting you already had your schedule called it to fit mine?"

"Well, no, I wanted to see how you felt first, Alice wanted to get Carlisle to do it last night, regardless of your decision, thinking it wouldn't matter. I put her off, but now that you said it's ok, I'm sure she's dialing Carlisle as we speak to handle this matter. It should be in effect on Monday."

"Oh." Bella took a moment to digest that. "Ok."

"If you will permit me to walk you to your classes today?"

Bella's smile split across her face. "Of course!" She spun to go towards class and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to walk her in. "Is this ok?" She asked, surprised.

"If I'm going to hell, might as well go all the way." He teased her, and she glared at him for that comment. "Watch out for Jessica, by the way, she wants to know all about our time together last night." At her shocked look he shook his head. "No, just the restaurant, she doesn't know about later, does she?"

Bella wouldn't share that part anyways, Jessica had called last night and was surprised to catch Bella on the other end of the phone when she called the house. Jessica was to hand back her jacket this morning, and so Bella removed Edward's. Jessica no doubt thought that Bella and Edward didn't have a good night and was probably going to gloat once the info was out. Well, she'd have to disappoint her instead, and get back at her for trying to warn her dad that she was alone with a boy.

"Hey, what's this?" He said, holding it up for her to take back.

"I'm picking up mine, hold onto that one for me?" She turned and went to find Jessica. "I'll see you after my first class!" She called out to him as she walked away. Edward watched until she disappeared from sight and then followed her progress through the minds of those around her. He was a little worried about not keeping her in sight, every time he did so, it seemed that she befell some sort of harm. He smirked as he watched Bella diffuse Jessica easily, much to her frustration and got caught up in providing a session with her during class. He was still proud of Bella, and knew she'd prove to continue doing so in the future.

Bella felt strange, it was the first time in many hours that she was aware that she was away from Edward's presence. Though, she doubted he'd completely left her, it wasn't in his nature to do so without a good reason, knowing him, he was probably watching through the minds of everyone that passed her.

* * *

Edward walked her to all of her classes and sat near her in the ones that they had together. When Jessica and her talked, she carefully sculpted her words to fit both of their inquires and not say too much on the subject of her feelings, she'd rather tell Edward to his face and see his reactions by her eyes, even if he might be able to keep her from seeing all of them, she was sure she could manage to get some type of reaction from him.

So when Jessica asked her whether or not she liked Edward, she found it difficult to circumvent actually committing to it one way or the other.

And then when Edward waited for her by the classroom door, he wrapped an arm around her waist and looked down at her. "So? Do you like me?"

"You know I do, or I wouldn't be standing her now, would I?" She knew he'd admitted to as much to her only yesterday.

He chuckled and tugged her closer to his side, and she was happy and impressed with the lack of space between them, he _had_ be getting better about her scent. She'd try to use this to her advantage if she could. Bella sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, she'd told Jessica they weren't anything, yet, and it was true, so far, they just had a kind of touchy-friendship, in so many different ways and that they both felt something for each other, and Bella knew she loved Edward, she just didn't know if Edward knew that was the emotion he felt in return, if he even felt that way about her.

They headed to lunch and the two of them took a table on their own, again. Bella chewed on her fingernail as she looked at Edward. She didn't know what to say to him, or how to broach it. "You know, there's a full plate of food in front of you, if you want something to chew on."

Bella laughed and looked down at her plate full of mismatched food, Edward had picked it out for her, and again he didn't know what to buy. "Can you eat? I mean, what does it do to you?"

It wasn't what she wanted to talk about, and he chuckled snagging a piece of pizza from her tray. "Watch this." He took a bite and then plopped it back onto his tray, he swallowed it with a little bit of a struggle. "We prefer not to eat your food, it just has to come back out the way it went in." He grimaced as he thought about it, no doubt having to had to pretend for someone, on some occasion.

"So why'd you demonstrate?" Bella teased, snagging the pizza and taking a bite from where he'd just done so. He visibly tensed and moved forward as if to stop her, but didn't as it was too late. She knew it was probably pushing his boundaries a little too much, but really, she didn't have long to live, so might as well get him to accept a few things, it was good for him to branch out a bit.

"I just wanted to put any disbelief behind." Edward leaned back and smiled at her.

They talked for awhile and eventually, by the nearing of the end of lunch, she felt confident to bring it up, but he looked over at his family, sitting together at another table and Alice was looking at him, communicating silently with him. "What's the matter?" She asked softly.

"I won't be going with you to class. I'll walk you, but... maybe it's best if you skip. Better for the health." He slid off his seat and held out his hand for her.

"Well... normally I wouldn't like to skip classes for just about anything. But if you say I should, well, why not? Got a doctor's note for me somewhere in there?" She teased.

"It'd just be for the one class, so I think I could scrounge something up."

"You better just sign us out for the rest of the day, I have no intention of going to gym if I don't have to."

"People will begin to wonder, Miss Isabella Swan." He teased her back. "It'll get back to your father, somehow, eventually and we'll have to tell him that we're seeing each other."

"Are we?" Bella questioned, sitting up straighter, and leaning towards him. "When was this decided?"

"When you allowed me in last night." He was only joking, and they both knew it, but it was starting to hit too close to true ground and perhaps he had angled it that way on purpose. To make her admit to more. She could play that game as well.

"What makes us this couple that you've dreamt us up?" She slipped her hand into his and rose, he followed suit and lead her out of the cafeteria as others did the same, but they took a detour away from it. "Why are we skipping anyways?" She asked, not letting go until they arrived at the Volvo. Sitting right next to the shiny silver car, was an equally shiny red car that looked even nicer than the Volvo. "Who-"

"Rosalie's." He cut her off, knowing exactly what she was wondering. He held open the door and waited until she was properly seated before closing the door and getting into the driver's side. "They're blood typing in biology."

"Oh." Bella sat and contemplated it for a moment. "Well good, because I have an adversary to blood."

"What does that mean?" Edward asked, a smile flitting around his lips.

"I have a reaction, I smell it, I get dizzy, and sometimes I faint, other times I'm sick." Bella shivered.

"It's not your blood that sends you that way?" Edward slanted her an amused look. "If you so much as smell it on someone else?" He waited for her positive response that he was right before he broke out into laughter.

He pulled to a stop in a parking lot near the trail head of several trails leading into the woods. This area should be safe, and it held his favorite location. Besides, he had several witnesses watching her leave with him out of the cafeteria and into the parking lot, even if they thought he was just joyriding or something worse with her, at least they'd think they were together, so she'd be safe with him in this occasion, just because of that.

He skirted around to her side and opened the door for her. "Very gentlemanly." She teased him and he wasn't sure if it was in approval or not.

"I have something I want to show you." He took her hands and placed one on his shoulder before tossing her gently onto his back. Her hands spread across his chest as she wrapped her arms around him. "Hang on tight."

She buried her face into his neck as he took off at full speed. She could still feel the wind whipping by and her hair flying behind her. They stopped just as she was braving a peak at their surroundings, she knew he was impossibly fast, but she was not prepared for _how_ fast he was. He came to a sudden halt, or at least it felt that way to her, but if he had, she probably would have banged into him a lot harder than she did. "Sorry." He mumbled, helping her get down. "I didn't realize how much I needed to adjust that stop." She felt a little woozy just from the speed alone, even if she hadn't been watching the surroundings.

"It's fine, it didn't hurt." Bella brushed off his concern. "I have to sit down for a second."

He chuckled and helped her do so. "It's ok, we're here."

Edward sat down next to her and she finally got a look at their surroundings. "Oh wow, it's beautiful." She breathed. He brushed a strand back from her cheek.

"It's my favorite place here, I can be free of all the thoughts of the people of the city, and it's so beautiful and peaceful here anyways."

"And you brought me?" She asked, concern that she was now invading his space.

"Oh, you only perfectly accessorize it." He smiled at her gently. "In fact, I would be so bold as to state that this place was made to extenuate your beauty." Bella blushed and looked away, mumbling something about flattery. "I think you're very beautiful." His hand skimmed her jaw.

"Thank you, but I think you're a little confused, I'm very plain."

"Then explain to me, please, how every guy in the school seemed to ask you to prom? How am I so lucky as to gain a moment of your time?"

"I can't believe you even need to ask." Bella leaned into his hand. "It's I who can't figure out how I got picked to be part of your life when you've had your pick of girls for decades, human and not." Bella placed her hand over top of his.

"No other girl interested me until you, and none will after you."

"You sound like I am going somewhere soon."

"I hope not." Edward used his other hand to tap her nose. "Definitely not planning on letting anything happen to you to tear you from my life. I've finally accepted I can't get you to leave me on your own."

"Well good, because nothing you do or say will scare me away."

"We'll have to see about that. I've wanted to do something for awhile now, and have been too afraid to even contemplate it."

"You have full permission."

"Just hold, very still." There, in the middle of a field of purple spring flowers and trees surrounding the clearing, Edward leaned forward with their hands still joined on her cheek, kissed her. Besides that one other contact, the only part that touched were their lips.

Bella let him control the kiss at first, then she tentatively returned it before she lost control and threw herself at him, taking control of the kiss and pressing her lips against his and digging her other hand into his hair.

He removed his hand away from her's and took a hold of her shoulders, forcing her away from him, she grasped at him for a few seconds before she was separated from him and she got a hold of herself. Bella stared at him in disbelief. "I'm so sorry!"

Edward kept a distance between them, more so than it had been all day and she sighed, she wasn't going to attack him again. "What was that?"

She could have responded 'A kiss', but she didn't. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. It won't happen again!"

"No, it won't, it's probably best we don't try that again." At her look, he clarified. "For awhile."

Bella rolled her eyes. "It was your fault anyways."

"Oh?" He came closer, his eyebrow lifted. "Have a lot of experience in this field, to lay it at my feet? How do I know that you don't attack all guys this way?"

She'd accomplished part of her goal with this and she tilted her head, moving just a hairsbreadth closer to him. "How do I know that you don't have all the girl's throwing themselves at you?"

"I've already told you, no other girl has interested me, _none_. I am however conversely unaware of your history." Bella snuggled up to his side and he wrapped his arms around her. "You are very interested in courting danger."

"I'm interested in courting you." She looked up at him and he chuckled, laying back and taking her with him so her head rested on his chest and he held her against him. "I haven't dated anyone or was even remotely interested, and I mean _anyone_."

Edward had his crooked grin back in firm place as she glanced up at him, and she bit her lip as she smiled in return, she loved that expression on his face, it was almost a pleased look in his purely happy face. She snuggled in deeper and if he was human would have had a perfect opportunity to listen to his heart beating. Instead his chest was cool beneath her ear and face. It was comforting, as well as his smell.

"Don't look so pleased." She muttered, perfectly content to be exactly where she was, with who she was with. She'd just shared her first kiss with the most amazing guy, granted it didn't turn out exactly like she thought it would, but it was nice, nonetheless.

"I can't be happy that I just shared a kiss with the most amazing girl? Or that my girlfriend and I are in the same boat when it comes to dating, that at least in this, we're equals?"

Bella sighed. "We're on the same page again, I almost can't believe you can't hear my thoughts when you say things like that, when it's so closely related to what I was thinking."

He held her close and they watched the sun shift through the sky behind the thick cloud coverage and the breeze shift the early flowers. After awhile, Bella adjusted so her elbows were on the ground near his side and she was looking down at him, ready to ask for one thing that she was hoping to get an answer to. "Can I see you in the sunlight?"

He tensed beneath her, and took a long moment to respond. "Have you ever seen any of us in the sunlight?" Bella shook her head negatively in response. "It's not a very pretty sight, it's the embodiment of all the lives we've taken, what we are."

"Ok." Bella answered innocently. "I still want to see."

Edward sighed and pulled her against his chest as he stood up and helped her onto his back. He zoomed through the woods for awhile longer and slowed to a stop near the mountains, they had to have gone pretty far to get there, it wasn't so close to Forks, whatsoever, but then again, she didn't know how far the clearing was either, nothing seemed the normal distance with Edward.

He let her down and together they climbed a small pathway towards the sunny side of the mountain. He left her in the shadow and took off his shirt, handing it to her. Before he exited the sunless spot for the rays beating down he took her face in both hands. "Are you ready to see the monster?"

"I'm not frightened." She told him and held the shirt in her hands.

"Ok." He took a few steps backwards and the sun surrounded him. She had to shield her eyes at first because he just radiated with it. Then she realized that it was a reflection in every direction.

She sucked in a deep breath on a gasp. "Diamonds." She said breathlessly. "You're beautiful."

He laughed dryly at her comment. "Not beautiful." He shook his head. "A murderer."

She shook her head, there was no way to convince him, but to her, he was very beautiful, breathtaking as she'd just demonstrated.

There were so many things she wanted to ask him, wanted to tell him, and she didn't know how to do so. So instead, she didn't. She walked forward and wrapped her arms around his bare torso. He pulled her to him and held her, leaning down to breath her in. He just proved he could handle her scent, and wouldn't harm her.

It was then that she realized she didn't have to ruin anything by asking _him,_ instead she could just ask Jacob for the information she seeked. Not that she would ever really have to use it herself, but if it came down to it, it might be nice to have. Although on that wavelength, there was one thing she needed to tell him first, but she'd save it for later tonight, or in the morning...

* * *

EAN: So, I think there are a couple of scenes that I might have bypassed/skimmed over, and since most of us have read the BOOKS, seen the movie, or have read many many different stories with the same scenes, I have decided that, _that_ wasn't so important to THIS story. I still wanted to include it, and include a little bit of my version, but really, it can be overdone, so I tried not to. If there is a lag in between chapters, I apologize, I'm trying to work on MANY things at once, including very important homework, so I might not post very often on the same story as I try to get things up, and out.


	10. Chapter 10

Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

"Thank you." Bella stated later that night, Edward was in the bed with her, well, more like on top of the covers while she was buried underneath them and he wasn't touching her, but it was a start in the right direction. She liked him being there. "For everything today, I know how hard it must have been for you."

"Not as hard as it could have been." He agreed, reaching out and laying one arm around her. "Let me know if you get cold." Bella nodded and as her eyes started to drift shut, she mumbled something. "What was that?" He asked amused.

"Please stay tonight, even if you know that Jacob is coming tomorrow to pick me up." She felt him still in the bed, more so than he could normally and she peaked at him, to see his reaction.

His face was tense but he nodded. "Not a problem, just don't expect me to interact with him. I thought you were going to tell him that his guard of you was no longer needed."

"It doesn't matter, I'm still his friend, and I will occasionally disappear from Alice's view to go see him, or hang out with him. That doesn't change just because we're now an item. In fact, it might take him awhile to get used to that idea, so I need to reassure him on occasion that I'm not going to just vanish in the night, for any reason." She stressed the last part. "I want to make sure your treaty stays intact just as much as I don't want to lose Jake as a friend." She shifted so she was looking him in the eye and held his hand. "Please understand that?"

"I suppose you'll be safe with him from any crazy vampire, especially when I can't protect you on the Res. But Bella, be careful, those wolves are dangerous, you might not believe me, but trust me, you've seen the damage first hand. They can loose control."

"Not Jake." Bella refused stubbornly, Jacob was _different_.

Edward gathered her close and her head found his chest again and as he hummed a song, she drifted off to sleep. "We'll let this go, for now."

"What is that song?"

Edward's lips quirked, it was payback time. "Your lullaby." He answered truthfully and she only snuggled deeper as she lost the battle with the realm of the awake. She didn't seem too upset by the title.

* * *

When he left the following day, she cursed herself, she didn't know how to get her boyfriend and best friend to interact and she knew it was going to be a source of tension for a long time to come, she didn't plan on this being a momentary thing. There was only one logistical problem with her plan, she was going to get old, and he would remain 17 forever.

Well, besides everything else too... she laughed at herself. She turned to get ready for the day, he had left without a kiss goodbye, but it was amazing that he had been able to remain the entire night on her bed, holding her. She hadn't forgotten what he'd told her just as she was about to fall asleep last night, she'd thought it was cute, so it hadn't occurred to her to get upset by him calling the song he hummed to her, her lullaby. She'd have to find out the real title and find it on itunes or something.

Bella finished dressing and exited the bathroom, she went into her room to close the window and head downstairs, she hoped it would air out her room from Edward's smell, hoping that Jake wouldn't catch it and let it be. As she was sliding it shut, a pale hand reached out and stopped it, and then an equally pale face was near hers, leaning in towards her, their noses almost brushing. A crooked grin was in place as his eyes racked her face, she was startled, but that was the extent of her anxious heartbeat. "Wh-what are you doing here Edward?" She finally croaked out, she was having difficult breathing.

"I just remembered I forgot to tell you something very important." He admitted, one hand hanging off the eve above his head as he leaned in through the window. Vaguely Bella worried about the neighbors seeing him half in and half out of her room, so many things they could think about that.

"What would that be?" She asked breathlessly, he was so close, and it was doing things to her head, and heart, it was doing a strange flop as he just looked at her amused, both refused to move from their positions.

"I love you." The hand that had halted the window reached out to cup her cheek. "I thought it was very important that you knew it before you spent all day away from me." He drew her to him, closing the distance before she could form words to respond to that and kissed her. The kiss lasted only a few seconds before her knees gave out on her and he had to catch her. "Are you all right?" He asked concerned as he helped her sit on the bed.

She shook her head, trying to get her breathing back to normal. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just forgot to breath, I guess."

Edward chuckled. "First you attack me, then you faint on me, what am I going to do with you?" That was a very good question, she didn't know if her reactions were normal, and she got a mischievous look in her eyes. "What are you thinking?" He hedged, but his tone was still amused.

"That we should try it again to see if either one was a fluke."

Edward glanced behind him towards the window and when he turned back towards her, he grinned. "Your mutt is here. But we can very well try anyways." He wiggled an eyebrow at her and she groaned, pushing him away with no physical results.

"You knew he was coming, and planned it, didn't you?" She glowered at him and he shook his head.

"Sorry, but that's just a bonus. It wasn't my intention. I didn't hear him until he rounded the bend, the rest just fell into place. I really did just want to tell that." He tapped her nose. "Don't worry, I don't expect you to return the words, or even the feelings." He placed a cold finger against her lips to stop her words. "Call me before you come back, I'll meet you at the border."

Bella's face scrunched up. "Uh... I haven't told Jacob yet about us, so I don't think that would go over well, even if I were to tell him now and he'd had all day to get used to it."

Edward shook his head. "It's all right, we've only been seeing each other for a few days. I shouldn't have expected anything else. But we should tell your father soon."

"Can we wait on that?" Bella pleaded and bit her bottom lip.

Edward sighed, and pulled her close, she returned the hug and heard the truck pull up onto her driveway. "Bella! Jake's here!" Charlie called from downstairs where he was no doubt helping himself to a snack while watching the Saturday NBA game. Usually Billy would be over to watch it with him, and Bella stuck her forehead against the window to see if Billy had come too, but it was only Jacob getting out of his truck.

"Go on, I'll let myself out when you've left." Edward nudged her towards the door and she threw her arms around him one last time before she ran down the hall and the stairs.

"Coming!" Edward winced when he heard her crash into something.

Charlie was laughing. "Take it slower Bells!"

"Will do." She turned and opened the front door, throwing her shoes and coat on. "Jake!" She launched herself at him and he caught her easily.

"Hey Bells, ready to go kite surfing?" He asked, putting an arm around her shoulders and walking back to his car. "And what's that smell?"

"Oh- you know-" Bella laughed it off, closing the door on Charlie's curious ears.

Edward growled softly, it was irresponsible to take her kite surfing, it was supposed to be one of the windiest days of spring. He heard a slight growl back, and knew Jacob was well aware of his presence, and heard it in his thoughts too, but he tactfully refrained from demanding answers from Bella until he got her away from both the vampire and the human who had no clue.

* * *

It was hell waiting for Edward, he literally had nothing better to do than wait for some sign from Alice that Bella was back safe, no doubt learning that the trouble magnet was now seeing the worse thing for her, would probably upset the wolf to no end.

He paced the woods outside her house, it was another thing he needed to broach with Bella, staying away from the woods unless she was with one of her 'unique' friends. _Any _woods.

He heard the car pull up and heard Black's thoughts. _I know you're here leech._ But it wasn't actually directed towards him, Bella must not have explained their talents yet to the wolves, and he hoped it would be a conversation refrained for the longest period of time, he didn't want their advantage or disadvantages announced. _I don't know what she's thinking, but hopefully that information she wanted from me, means she's intending on using it on you! _Jacob was laughing at the mental image of Bella- a much frailer looking Bella- if it was possible, standing in front of him, or at least it was a conglomerate of many vampires, his family forefront in the pup's mind, looking more frightening than any real vampire he'd ever seen, even in the fictional realms, and looking more pathetic, as he cowered from Bella who was gloating over a pile of flames she had created and was throwing in a middle finger into the flames.

Edward rolled his eyes, it was such a foolish young mind to think that way, and he was more interested in seeing how Bella was faring after a day away from him, but he couldn't see her through Black's mind and Charlie's was almost as much of a mystery to him as Bella's, but at least with his, he got sharp images before fading back into nothing or mild muttering from the Chief. He'd learned the cop was anything but slow.

A fact that he would have to be conscious of when he finally did deal with Charlie face to face. First though, he'd have to deal with Bella. He moved to intercept her from walking into her house, but Black had his arm around her again and they were talking and leading her up to her door. She laughed at something he said and they hugged before she let herself back into the house, they'd made some sort of plan to go see a movie next week or something.

When the door shut, Jacob tossed a superior look towards him. _Ha! She's safely away from you, you bloodsucker_. Edward wondered if maybe Bella _did_ tell him about his mind reading, or if Jacob was just the type of person to talk to another person in his mind as if he was talking to a real person. Then it clicked as Jacob started thinking about what he'd allow to let slip to the guys, if they knew about Bella and Edward- then he didn't know how they'd react to the news exactly- probably with less control than he'd exuded. Edward saw how Jacob reacted from his memories and was slightly annoyed at the argument that commenced, really he shouldn't have yelled at her like that! But what really made it interesting is that it seemed that it was normal for Jacob to seem like he's talking to other people, because a lot of times, he _was_, the rest of his pack could hear each others thoughts, all the time when they were in wolf form.

Edward smirked, _very_ interesting. He was over the whole fact that Jacob was trying to keep them apart, if for no other reason than just protecting Bella from something he viewed as a threat to her life. Edward should have been thankful for that, and in a way, he no doubt was, besides, Jacob didn't really know about him being able to enter her room without her minding, he'd just thought that Bella had a really creepy stalker who'd somehow managed to seduce her.

Edward grinned at that thought, might as well go be the stalker. With a chuckle he swung himself up onto Bella's window frame and slid open the unlocked window. If it wasn't for him, he'd have a talk with her about leaving herself wide open, though locking things wouldn't keep any vampires out, it might keep out other predators. Then again, they were in Folks, WA and the likelihood that a predator would pick this house, was slim, though it was Bella...

Bella talked to her dad downstairs for a little while and then came upstairs to study, she opened her door and stifled her scream at the unexpected presence in her room. "Edward!" She gasped, closing the door so her father wouldn't hear their conversation. "What are you doing here?"

"I figured you'd be home by now, and I couldn't stand not being able to see your beautiful face all day, I couldn't wait to relieve that injustice." When she turned fully towards him, with a sheepish but pleased smile on her face, it was his turn to be taken off guard and by her side in an instant. He gently tilted her head to the side to get a closer look. "What happened to you? That mutt-"

* * *

"No, no." Bella tried to quickly relieve his accusations, it wasn't Jake's fault, really. She put her hands over his to try and calm him. "I fell." She explained.

"You always fall, I hardly see any bruises."

"You don't see me in gym class." She responded glibly and at his raised eyebrow she sighed. "Fine, you do." Then her eyes sharpened on him. "Don't tell me you watch me in the locker room!"

"No, no, I don't." It was his turn to try and soothe her anger. "I have never intentionally watch anything like that, living with six mated vampires though, has been difficult to filter out some of their thoughts, and so I make sure to respect any privacy anyone else has, as much as I can, so I jump out when ever someone is going to the bathroom or locker room and try to put some distance between us." Bella was content with that answer, he could lie to her, and she wouldn't know it, but she didn't think he would. Why would he declare that he love her, when it hadn't been needed?

"Anyways, I got a giant bruise on my hip last week from falling into the bleachers." She shifted her shirt so her hip would be seen above the waistband of her jeans. It was yellow and fading, and Edward wouldn't have any choice but to believe her, and it's exactly the way she wanted it.

The bruise on her cheekbone throbbed, she'd gone cliff jumping again with the boy and the water turned on her and she slammed into the rocks when she emerged from the depths. Luckily, it only seemed her cheek and elbow were really the only things that had gotten injured, and she had fallen today as well, she almost fell into the whirlpools if Jacob hadn't caught her.

He tilted her head back again and ran his cool fingers along the angry flesh, she knew he'd see it, and had wanted to put it off until she could get the red to disappear somewhat, and not look so bad. The cold helped it a lot, Jake had tried to help, but he kept melting the ice as he brought it to me and it was just a mess. "I think it should get x-rayed." He finally said, moving away from her a little.

She winced at the idea, then she'd need to explain it to Charlie again, she had managed to get away and upstairs by saying it was no big deal, it wasn't broken, but really, she wouldn't know about that one, she'd never broken a bone in her face before, except maybe her nose. She'd have to get Carlisle to x-ray the elbow too, it hurt to move and seemed over time to be seizing up on her, making it harder to do so, when she could bare the pain, like hug Jake, not to get him to worry either. She didn't need to move it for anything and left Edward in the dark, as much as she could. "I will, if it still hurts later. There's probably nothing they can do."

Edward frowned but didn't say anything on the matter as she sank into her chair at her desk. He had something else he needed to talk to her about. "Why do you want to know about killing us?"

Bella gasped sharply and she snapped around to look at him. "I don't want to kill you!"

"The Cullen family?" He asked, sitting across from her, he wondered if this was the real topic she wanted to broach with him the other day, but switched to seeing them in the sun, though he did think she really wanted that mystery solved as well.

"Definitely not, at least not those that I've met." She tried to smile, but she knew that he was being serious and really, even if she met the rest, if they were anything like he said they were, then she had no interest in harming any of them. "I guess… I just wanted to know so I'd have some type of advantage against him if I ever ran into him. Know his weaknesses, if I could do anything."

"Doubtful." Edward tried to break gently, even if she knew _how_ to kill them, she wouldn't ever be able to do it herself.

"I know." She sighed dejectedly. "I got a very hard crash course on that very same topic with the wolves today, they'd warned me too that I wasn't ever to get near them, that I shouldn't go near you guys either, you might appear nice, but you're still vampires. That I should probably just be near one of them at all times if I ever feared for an attack. Jacob especially is saying he'd like to hang out in the woods more often in case he showed up."

"Not a bad idea. That is to say, if Black will only be in the woods, nothing closer. I have to feed sometimes, and I have to tell you about another thing that has popped up. Alice had a vision that we're going to have some non-vegetarians come to Washington, this region in particular, but if they keep on their current course, then they'll stay away from Forks. "

Bella's nose wrinkled. "How many?"

"Three."

"I don't think you could have found a human girl with more interactions with vampires than I have. Even in the most remote sense, like these three from a distance."

"Don't-"

"Go into the woods, yeah I know, Charlie told me the same thing this morning."

"Really?" He hadn't heard anything from the Chief's thoughts on that topic, though the man had been pleased that Bella and Jacob were spending so much time together. Edward tilted his head in thought as he looked at Bella. "How would you like to meet my family?"

"Right now?"

"I think tomorrow actually, if you'd be ok with it." His phone chirped but he ignored it, no doubt Alice was pleased and wanted to go over the details, but at the moment missing the fact that Bella hadn't actually, physically said yes yet.

Bella nibbled the bottom of her lips. "Will they like me?"

"What's not to like?" Edward teased, pushing back her long brown hair. "You've met all but two already anyways." He added. "At least officially."

"I guess."

Edward chuckled. "You're not afraid because they're all vampires, but because you worry about being disliked?"

"Inadequate, actually." She clarified.

"Nonsense, if I think you're perfect, they can't argue."

"You think I'm perfect?" She was shaking her head. "I would think you were the one that hit your head if you weren't impenetrable."

"Bella!" They were cut off as Charlie called up to them. "I ordered dinner, it should be here shortly!"

"Ok!" Bella called back and gave a guilty look back at Edward. "Have to cut this short, sorry." She leaned in and Edward held himself still as she stole a quick peck on his cheek before she disappeared down the steps.


	11. Chapter 11

Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

* * *

Chapter 11

* * *

AN: Most of this chapter was written before this AN, but I needed to make a comment. If you are going to have the first three vampires exactly the way they are in the books, and then switch Rosalie and Bella around in history... please don't change their appearance, ability to block Edward missing in Bella's case, and have Emmett freak out about Rosalie's blood. Really... the whole reason Edward didn't love Rosalie was because she was shallow. Just changing the name Rosalie Hale to Isabella Hale doesn't cut it... because then you run into a whole skew of problems... ie, Edward can't hear Rosalie's thoughts then? WTF? I'm all for changing it up... but do it well... that's all I ask... think about the consequences before you jump into it and then blatantly ignore all the things that really matter in canon without addressing it well if that's going to happen.

* * *

Keeping her elbow a secret from Edward was near impossible as he watched her that night slip into bed. She would have scheduled a time to see Carlisle at the office and have him look over both her cheek and her elbow, but now that option might be taken from her, even if she did ask him not to think or say anything near Edward about it. Charlie had been oblivious to it, or at least so she thought but if he did see it, he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Bella had grabbed a few of her things and headed into the bathroom to change before coming back out and dropping them down onto the dresser before using her hand to lift back her blankets and slide in. Edward was there for her to smooth them out over her and slid into bed behind her, wrapping an arm around her and within minutes she was asleep as he hummed her lullaby. It was funny because she got away with it, she'd been using her right hand a lot more than normal. She was left handed naturally and yet somehow had been taught to write right-handed. It probably was part of the reason she was thrown off balance so much, constantly wondering which hand she was supposed to use in dominance, and which foot.

Then in the morning, she woke up exhausted, but knew Edward was there, watching her, so she rolled out of bed and excused herself for a moment. He really didn't need to worry about her, if he knew about this, he'd only worry more and insist on being with her for every step she took in case something else happened to her. Or sic his siblings on her, in either case, she wouldn't be allowed to go see Jacob, it would keep her at a distance that he was unhappy with. It was all very sweet and flattering actually, and while she didn't want to be separated from him either, she also wanted to go see her best friend.

She had ignored Edward the night before when he suggested Jake be allowed to do the perimeter, but not be allowed near her. Bella rolled her eyes this morning as she got dressed in the privacy of the bathroom, wincing but not making much noise as her elbow refused to budge when she lifted her shirt over her head. If he heard and asked, she'd just say it was her cheek, maybe he'd buy it. She hoped so. She had to drop in on Carlisle today, though getting Edward to leave her side long enough to do so might be a hassle. Maybe Bella should just call Jake and get him to drive her.. though he might think about it and then her whole process would be ruined.

Finally presentable, Bella turned towards the door, hoping she'd be able to find a way to weasel out of going to meet his family. Despite his reassurances, she knew the family wouldn't like her, why would they? She was a weak human, sub-par to the rest of her own kind, and that was before trying to even think of comparing it to theirs.

Cardozo might have thought her to be strong in her own unique way, even he thought she was weak enough to be dominated. The Cullens might not try to do so, but would they see that same strength? Was it even valuable outside a mad-man's plot?

Bella was still toiling over her own inadequacies when she entered her room. Edward's back was towards her as he stood at the window, looking out, perhaps even breathing in, the warm air. It wasn't quite sunny, but it had warmed up fractionally compared to the previous few days. It was a nice change, and as soon as she entered the room fully, he turned to her and helped her with her items. He was smiling as he took it, clearly pleased he'd be able to at least introduce her as his girlfriend to his family, if no one else. "What are you thinking about?" She asked almost coyly as she looked into slightly darkened golden eyes.

"How wonderful it is to be able to confirm us." He drew his thumb across her smarting cheekbone, it had swollen in size, despite the cold pressure of his hand throughout the night, and it looked like she'd been punched. She didn't feel it as much as she probably should, maybe it was the swelling, maybe it was the cold and Tylenol, or maybe it really wasn't that bad of an injury. She sure hoped it was the latter..

He never pressed her to say anything towards her feelings, other than admitting to him that she had some. She wanted to loop her arms around his neck and press close and whisper the same words he had sprung on her yesterday, back. She would always want to say them, for she felt that way, but with her arm and her unsure how he would respond to her actions, she held back slightly. This was all still new, she was still new to this dating thing. Bella wanted more than anything to be able to put it out there and know that they were together, but he was a _vampire_. "I was thinking along similar paths." She finally admitted and reached tentatively out with her good hand towards his face. He guided her hand to rest on his cheek and leaned into it. "Edward- I-"

"Bella! Are you up yet?" Charlie yelled from downstairs, seeming to instinctively know how to cut her off.

"It's all right, love. I will be here to pick you up around eight. Jasper and I were planning to head out for a hunt this beautiful morning. Alice says you can't change your mind, the rest of us won't let you." Edward grinned before pressing a kiss to her hand. "But if you are against it, I might be able to persuade her differently."

"No, it's all right. Will it only be you and Jasper?" She asked offhandedly.

"Yes, some of the others went last night." He pulled her close as Charlie was yelling for her again, she never did respond to him the first time. Edward kissed her cheek then disappeared, her still standing in the exact same position she'd been in while in his arms.

Bella trampled downstairs and said some placating words to her father about going out for a little while. She headed straight to the hospital, glad Edward had given her the excuse she'd never dreamt up, glad for once of his vampire needs.

Carlisle glanced at the list waiting for him and an eyebrow rose and he looked out to the patients waiting, only a handful were there, as it was the busiest time of the week for him. "Bella? Is everything all right? Should I call Edward back?"

He asked as they walked to his office. "No, no, it's nothing like that, I'm actually a little embarrassed to tell him."

"Please, have a seat." Carlisle directed her towards a chair and sat at the edge of his desk near her, but always a comfortable distance away. He was aware of the human aversion, even with his charming manner, and even more so with her previous encounters with Vampires and not trusting them. "Also please know that you are always welcome to come see me right away, you don't have to wait out there. I'm more than happy to accommodate you in my office for any needs you may have. Now what seems to be the matter? This nasty bruise? Yes, Edward did grumble something out of the sort when I saw him this morning, when he came to pick up Jasper. I didn't quite catch it all, what exactly transpired?"

Bella sank into the chair, so he did know something of the matter. "Well, you can't breath or think word of this anywhere _near_ Edward, but I fibbed a little."

"Someone did this to you?" Carlisle was to his feet and leaning over her, but he was frowning, as it probably wasn't consistent with a normal fist wound.

"No, no! Please, let me explain. Edward already knows that I, er, fell and bruised my cheek when I was with Jacob. He's probably angry that Jacob didn't stop me from falling, but it wasn't his fault!" Bella sighed. "What I neglected to mention to Edward, because he was already mad enough about this silly little bruise, was that I jammed my elbow on something as well."

Carlisle looked in Bella's eyes a long moment, trying to discern if there were any lies in her story and he sighed. "What aren't you telling me?"

"I didn't fall?" She asked weakly and Carlisle's eyebrow lifted again, and a quick flash of his eyes confirmed that he was checking again any reports of abuse. "I was cliff jumping and the water slammed me against a couple of rocks." Bella winced as Carlisle just stared at her. "I didn't want to tell Edward because he already thinks the wolves are dangerous."

"Well they certainly shouldn't be letting you do things like that, especially with how brittle you seem to be." Carlisle didn't say more on the matter as he went to taking care of her cheek.

"You won't tell him, will you? I don't want you to have to set Jacob's nose as well."

Carlisle's lips twitched at that. "No, he won't hear of it from me. Though it would be interesting to see you try to get me anywhere near _Jacob_. He would probably have a fit. I really wish you had come to see me last night. There is a slight infection setting in." He disinfected it and placed a nearly invisible bandage over the two stitches he ended up putting in. It had been hard to see the need before he cleared away the blood caked on her cheek and even then they were less for stopping unnecessary blood flow and more for superficial matters, so she'd have less of a scar. "Though it might be hard to hide it if this arm is broken."

His cold gentle hands worked smoothly and fluidly, it didn't hurt as he bend her arm and then tried to straighten it out. "What's the news doc, is it broken?" Bella tried to put on her best voice impression, and failed, but it still cracked a smile out of Carlisle.

"Not broken, but you did damage some of the ligaments in the back. Taken plenty of aspirin, wear long sleeves, ice it and go from a mixture of keeping it still to moving it, and over again and it should be better in a few days. Nothing irreversible this time."

"Thank you, Dr. Cullen."

"Please, call me Carlisle." He rested a hand on her shoulder and then turned her towards the door. "On the house, of course. But you should go, Edward is calling me and he shouldn't hear you even breathing if you don't want him to suspect anything."

Bella smiled and thanked him again, before getting back into her red truck. Unsure what the conversation could possibly be about.

She had just closed her door when a pale hand was opening it again and pulling her out. It wasn't roughly and she looked up in surprise to see Carlisle. "What's the matter?" Bella asked breathlessly as Carlisle pulled her to his side.

"The vampires that Alice saw made a detour into town. We think it best if you stay somewhere populated."

"Charlie-" Bella looked scared for her father, which was reasonable under the circumstances.

"Is fine, he's at the station."

Bella frowned slightly as they walked back in. "Why did Edward call you, and not Alice?"

Carlisle sighed. "Because Alice is calling Emmet after she called Edward and the likelihood of getting him off the phone as easily as Edward was pretty slim. Don't worry, I just told Edward I saw you drive by earlier and that I would retrieve you. Now you have an excuse for being here."

"What do they want in town?"

Carlisle didn't answer for a long moment as he guided her into the ER and placed her near a mass of other people, probably half of Forks was in the room. Then he lowered himself to her level and looked deeply into her eyes. "They're curious about us and this town. They've never seen so many vampires in one area. They want to know why."

Bella bit her lip, wondering. "What happens when they find out?"

"I hope it doesn't get to that." Carlisle swallowed. "I think it best if you call your reckless friend, have him come here for you. Edward would never forgive me if you were caught in the crosshairs if it comes to that."

"But-" Bella knew the laws, had been told them specifically, and she once thought of provoking Cardoza into breaking them. "They wouldn't want a fight in a public space like this, the Volturi-"

Carlisle nodded, he didn't think it would escalate to a fight, but if they came into town, they might catch wind of Bella and her unusual bodyguards. "They might think it nothing to slaughter a town this small. It depends on the vampire, and their nature."

He was the only vampire that Bella met since coming to Forks who was able to put a fear into Bella that she thought she had been able to submerge. It was worse than Cardoza, at least he only picked off his prey when he wasn't experimenting, but to just kill an entire town because of one insignificant human was too much for Bella to handle. Bella nodded, she'd do whatever she could to help protect these people who had foolishly taken her in, when she could have brought yet another vampire to their doorstep.

It was with tense shoulders that Jacob came into the waiting room, but not seeing Carlisle around, he relaxed slightly and slipped his hand in hers before pulling her out of the hospital. Edward might have a fit with all the time she spent in his presence, especially after only being hurt the day before, and then she was off to an area he couldn't go again. Jacob lead her to his car and closed the door before slipping into his side. Then they were off, slower than if any of the Cullens were driving, but still fast enough to get onto his land before too long.

She enjoyed her time with Jacob, who realizing that Bella was more injured than she let on, chose to do something a bit more low-key. They sat on his couch and watched movies until her phone beeped at her with a text message from Alice. Some of the other wolves were outside Jacob's house, and some were patrolling the reservation. Bella had never felt so protected in her life, not even at her house, as some still had to be on the reservation in case a vampire wandered that way. Jacob snagged her phone before she could read the message. With a quick glance at it, he pocketed the phone and resumed the movie.

He caught her staring at him a few seconds later. "What?" He asked, knowing full well what she wanted.

"What did it say?" She asked, she knew better than to try and wrestle the phone back from him, she'd loose hands down, especially when he was aware that she wanted it.

"Nothing much, just that they left." He responded.

She shifted slightly and the ice pack that she had on top of the pillow slid and encountered Jacob's flesh.

"Hey, that's cold!" He complained, she had been using him as an arm rest, but since it was cold and probably would have melted the moment it touched him, they put a pillow in between. As it was from that slight contact, the ice had already turned into water. "Oops." He chuckled when she looked closely for any signs that it was still usable. "Probably best, you don't want to ice it for too long."

Bella sighed and leaned against his shoulder again. "Can I at least respond with an estimate on what time I'll be back so they don't worry."

"Nope." Jacob laughed when she groaned and buried her face into his shoulder.

"If you get a broken bone, it's not my fault." She warned and his response was to only tug her closer and turn the volume up on the movie.

A few minutes later and her hand was inching towards his side, intent on retrieving the phone, or at least long enough to text Alice back, to reassure her that she was still alive, and then drop it again, before Jacob was any the wiser. She had just brushed her fingers against it when Jacob toppled her onto the ground. She thought he was playing. "Sorry! I won't do it again!" She laughed as he hovered over her, his hands by her head and she realized quickly that it wasn't a game as he vibrated as if he was holding back. "What's wrong?"

Jacob pulled himself together enough to order her to stay put and then he booked it out of the house, the door slamming shut. Half a breath later, and she saw his hulking form press against the window, wanting to get back in.

Bella rose to her feet and opened the door for him, unsure if his large frame would fit through the small space. He managed it and he prodded her with his muzzle to the corner and then he sat in front of her, in a defensive position. "Is something wrong? Are they near?" Bella ran her fingers through his fur, this was the second time she'd seen him in wolf form. He seemed to relax slightly and then he laid down at her feet and knocked her off of them with his head. She fell into him and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He walked over to the couch and picked up her phone with his mouth and then angled his head towards her so she could snatch it from him and then he was trying to squeeze back through the door, this time with another person to consider.

Then once they were through, he broke into a run. She buried her head into his fur as he went, he was almost as fast as Edward. When he slid to a halt, she braved a look around and saw her house just beyond the forest line and saw Edward's silver Volvo in the driveway. She squinted but she didn't see his form in the driver's seat and assumed he was inside. She attempted to slid off of Jacob's back so he could go change back when too cold hands went to her waist and lifted her off of the wolf. She squeak in surprise but Jacob didn't do much but sit down to aid the cold-one in his task. Then once she was off, he pressed his muzzle against her face and then he was off again.

Bella looked up into Emmett's amused face and she frowned slightly at him. "Sorry that our meetings haven't always been under the best circumstances." He threw her over his back and walked to the side of her house. An easy jump later and they were in her room. He took a deep breath in through his nose and then he too relaxed and set her down on the bed. "This isn't exactly how I planned on meeting you again, especially today, but beggars can't be choosers." Emmett dropped a hand on her shoulder.

Bella smiled up at him a little unsure. "How is everything, Emmett?"

He sank down onto the bed next to her and she felt her body go upwards with his added weight and fell towards him. But he only gathered her into a hug. "Oh don't be so shy! First you scream at me, and now you're quiet? I'm not going to hurt you."

Bella nodded, still thinking and tried to placate him. "I'm sorry about that. I wasn't expecting to see a vampire at the school. Especially one as big as you in the first few minutes through the door."

"I suspect it ruined the vibe." Emmett agreed with a sigh. "Edward will be back soon, he's just finishing up with the wolves. The stench of that one is all over you."

Bella pulled her hair towards her face to see if she could smell it, but she couldn't. "Sorry." She mumbled, but Emmett should have suspected it, having pulled her off the wolf's back himself.

Emmett laughed. "I don't care, I'm not the one that has to smell you every time you come back from seeing him."

If Emmett hadn't been there, then perhaps she may never have found out what happened while she was at Jacob's. The wolves spent a lot of time around her house, but mostly in the woods, and only Jacob ventured inside, as she spent most of her time down there with them if she was doing anything other than spend time with Jacob. Jacob was her best friend, the rest were pale comparisons, though still friends with her. Only Edward came over until tonight and it was only a few times that she was aware of.

"So what is the deal? Why did Jacob suddenly react like that and change?"

"We followed the vampires, but had to stop as they disappeared into the Reservation. I'm not sure why Jacob changed, he was watching you at his house, I thought. Which is pretty deep into their lands isn't it?"

Bella frowned faintly, wondering if maybe the wolves howled and he was jumping the gun or something. She was pretty sure they couldn't hear each other in human form. "Yeah. It's not near woods or water, comparatively."

Emmett nodded and then he titled his head. "Perhaps I should let you go. Edward is pretty possessive of you." He tapped her gently on the nose and then stood up just as Edward was sliding in through the window. Emmett nodded towards Edward and then chucked a grin back at Bella. "See you tonight." Then Emmett was gone and Bella was in Edward's hands, and he was holding her close.

"Is everything all right?" She asked breathlessly, wondering if this was too much, but when he moved back slightly, she saw how gold his eyes were and she'd never seen them quite like that.

He pulled her head against his chest and held her there. His chest moved as he took breaths in and released them, acting somewhat human. "I was with Alice. She was unable to see you until you were out of his presence. Which wasn't until a few minutes ago. I was worried that when they disappeared into Q-land that they knew where to find you, that they'd made the connection."

"Have they? Are they a danger to me?"

"I don't think so, I only caught a glimpse of one of their minds, the slowest one, a man by the name of Laurent. He didn't seem to care about you, they were only curious about so many of us being in one area, so close to humans." Edward shrugged. "But they went onto the reservation and you hadn't responded to Alice's text and it worried us that maybe something happened to you and we wouldn't have known it. So I went to talk to the wolves that were near the border. I heard through their minds, Jacob's thoughts about how Emmett was taking over, and then his thoughts disappeared and Alice could suddenly see you again."

"Sorry." Bella whispered. "Jacob was just messing around with keeping the phone out of reach after Alice said it was ok to come back. I told him that you would worry, but he seemed to relish the idea of you trying to break the treaty just to find me, when it would have been obvious to anyone else that in his hands I was safe."

Edward growled lightly in his throat. "Leave it to the mutt to try to stir up more problems. If I had broken the treaty, it wouldn't have been an entertaining matter." Then Edward's hands were on her face, pulling her into a kiss and pulled away just as quickly with a disgusted look. "You smell like him, even your face."

"I buried my head into his neck." Bella mumbled, not feeling comfortable being told she smelt all the time. Especially being told she smelt like other people.

Edward shook his head gently and then pressed the back of his hand to her cheek. "How are you feeling?" His hand rested there a few moments before he found her injured arm and slid the sleeve up to see the damage for himself. There was a nasty bruise there, worse than the one on her face. He held his hand against the injury, hoping it would help.

"How did-?" Bella frowned as she thought maybe Carlisle slipped.

"He is an excellent secret keeper, he just stores those thoughts away until he is sure that I am not in the area if he has enough time to put them there. No, I saw it through Alice." When Bella started to grumble about the pixie, Edward pulled her into his arms and held her. "She was worried about you, she'd seen you go to Carlisle and called me before she saw the results of your visit. Then as she was on the phone with me she saw that you were fine and were going to head home." Edward laughed dryly. "Seems every time I am away from your presence, she's calling me with bad news."

Bella looked into his eyes for a long moment before resting her head against his chest. She didn't need to say anything, he was probably right. She was a magnet for danger, and these vampires weren't the first ones she'd called to her, far from it. He held her for several heart beats before he groaned. Her head popped up, worried that he'd outstayed his welcome at such a close proximity. She wasn't far off the mark with that assessment, but that's not why he groaned. "What? What is it?"

"Could you please tell me what you're thinking? It's so hard not being able to hear your thoughts."

Bella paused for a second before speaking and knew she had to rearrange her thoughts quickly or else he would think she was stalling him. "I was thinking about all the vampires in my life." She put her head back against his cool chest as his fingers rested gently over her elbow, her cheek got reprieve as well, though it was only a secondary function to why she wanted to be so close to him.

"Are you rethinking your position about me?" Edward asked quietly and was relieved when she shook her head, she could feel him relaxing slightly. "If you were, I would understand, I would leave you alone. Though I would ask you to permit me to at least stand guard outside your premises."

She smiled against his chest at the words he used and wrapped her arms around him. "If I had it my way, you'd be here from now to eternity."

Edward chuckled and rested his cheek against her hair, able to breath in somewhat normally as Jacob's smell still masked hers somewhat. "You might reconsider taking a shower tonight, at least until the family gets used to your scent."

Bella let out a small laugh of her own. "I suppose it might help, as long as it doesn't make them angry."

"It won't and it'll wear off eventually. Perhaps I might find use of Jacob afterall." Edward smirked and she caught the motion from the corner of her eye.

"Did anyone get hurt?" Bella asked and Edward had no warning that's where her thoughts had taken her down and he sighed heavily. She lifted her head and pulled away. "Someone did?" Her eyes were wide and disbelieving. "You wasted so much energy protecting me, but another human got hurt in the process of these vampires?"

"First of all, it wasn't wasted, to me you are more important than anyone else in the world and secondly we can't protect everyone. If we had confronted them there would have been bloodshed across the entire town. As it is, no one from this town got hurt, but once they left Forks, I cannot guarantee that they did not find another city to find their meal in. Alice is still tracking them, and all she's told me is that they haven't decided to come back. Now come on, it's time I presented myself to your father the correct way." Edward dropped a quick kiss to the top of her head and then disappeared out the window. A few minutes later, only enough time for her to rearrange her appearance, the doorbell rang and glancing out the window she saw his silver volvo.

Then her father's voice was calling to her from downstairs, that she had a guest. She braced herself and opened her door to tackle this next hurdle.

* * *

EAN: Yes, I know, I left you hanging, yet again, before the big dinner scene at the Cullens... sorry about that, that's not intentional. However, what is intentional is getting you an update! It's been forever, and I was more concerned about that then wrapping up a meet and greet scene... haha... More to come, soon, I hope.


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